Affordable Care Act

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Temporary Safety-Net Policies Prevented Mass Insurance Loss During the Pandemic

Although it provided a foundation, the ACA alone could not have absorbed the effects of the pandemic's sudden job losses on health care coverage. Temporary expansions to the safety net enacted by Congress also were necessary to stem coverage loss. As the pandemic continues, policymakers will want to keep safety-net provisions as available policy options.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Jodi L. Liu @jodilliu

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Boosting Vaccine Acceptance, Afghanistan's Refugee Crisis, Environmental Racism: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on addressing vaccine hesitancy, preventing an even-bigger humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and how to develop antiracist environmental policies.

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How Insurance Marketplace Regulators Can Help Consumers Enroll in Better Coverage

The Affordable Care Act simplified shopping for health care by creating the individual health insurance marketplaces where plans are categorized into labeled tiers. Consumers rely on these labels when comparing plans. But the labels don't tell consumers everything they need to know.

Petra W. Rasmussen, David M. Anderson

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ACA Subsidies for Higher-Income Families Are Key to Enrolling More Americans

The House Ways and Means Committee has proposed several insurance reforms in its emergency COVID-19 relief package, including increasing subsidizes and extending subsidies to people with higher incomes. The proposed combined approach is a far more efficient means of covering uninsured Americans than enhancing subsidies only for those who are currently eligible.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner

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'Internet of Bodies,' COVID-19 as a Preexisting Condition, Preventive Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the potential risks and benefits of the 'Internet of Bodies,' what might happen if the ACA is struck down and COVID-19 is considered a preexisting condition, a drop in the use of preventive care, and more.

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COVID-19 Could Become a Widespread Preexisting Condition in a Post-ACA World

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is far from perfect, but its protections are particularly relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. If the ACA is struck down, then protections for preexisting conditions will go with it. Policymakers should consider the potential implications for millions of COVID-19 survivors.

Carter C. Price @CarterCPrice, Raffaele Vardavas

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Preparing for a COVID Surge, Reducing Police Violence, Media Literacy in Schools: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on helping hospitals prepare for a surge in COVID-19 infections, an approach to reducing police violence, teachers' concerns about students' media literacy, and more.

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Options for Designing a Public Option

State and federal policymakers are considering adding state-backed public options to the individual market in an effort to expand health coverage and improve affordability. We analyzed what would happen if public options became available in U.S. health insurance exchanges.

Michael Cohen, Al Bingham, et al.

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Hospitals' Critical Care Capacity, Unemployment Insurance, Farmworkers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how hospitals can increase critical care capacity, reforming the U.S. unemployment system, supporting farmworkers, and more.

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What If the Supreme Court Strikes Down the ACA During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

With COVID-19 spreading across the United States, the fate of the Affordable Care Act is once again up in the air, hanging on the outcome of a Supreme Court case. Should the law be overturned, upwards of 20 million people could lose their health insurance during one of the deadliest pandemics in modern history.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Courtney A. Gidengil @c_gidengil

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COVID-19 and the Economy, America's Blood Supply, 10 Years of the ACA: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on COVID-19 and the economy, strengthening the U.S. blood supply, 10 years of the Affordable Care Act, and more.

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All Health Policy Is Local: The Case of the Individual Mandate Penalty in New York

As with many Affordable Care Act policies, how New York is dealing with the absence of the individual mandate penalty is a potent reminder that all health policy is local.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Sarah A. Nowak, et al.

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Understanding the Impact of the Elimination of the Individual Mandate Penalty

Starting in 2019, the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate penalty will be eliminated, effectively ending the law's requirement that most people have health insurance. While declines in coverage and increases in premiums are likely, the magnitudes of these effects are highly uncertain.

Christine Eibner @Chrissyeibner, Sarah A. Nowak

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Tax Reform Could Raise Car Insurance Rates

The new tax law eliminates the individual mandate. When this repeal takes effect in 2019, millions more Americans are expected to go without health insurance. Auto insurers will likely pick up the tab for some of that population's medical care. That could raise car insurance premiums.

Paul Heaton

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Beyond the Headlines: RAND's Christine Eibner Discusses Health Care Reform

The issue of how to improve health care in the United States is complicated. At a RAND event, senior economist and Paul O'Neill Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis Christine Eibner discussed modifications to the Affordable Care Act and the long-term outlook for health care reform.