If the American Rescue Plan Act’s enhanced Marketplace subsidies were made permanent, the number of people uninsured would drop by 4.2 million, or almost 14 percent, in 2022.
Despite a steep drop in employment during the pandemic, the share of nonelderly adults reporting material hardship declined. But this change obscures the substantial hardships among families who lost work.
Although the economy is recovering better than most predicted, it has varied tremendously by state and across population groups, especially for low-wage and service industry workers and communities of color. Implications for health care safety net programs and the people they serve also vary widely.
Uncompensated care declined significantly following the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) coverage expansions, though the nation still faced an estimated $42.4 billion in uncompensated care per year in 2015–17. Nearly $33.6 billion of public funds were paid to offset these costs in 2017.
This report delves into the pandemic’s effects on safety net programs, state responses to the immense hardship, implications for racial equity, and challenges, opportunities, and questions now facing state leaders.
This review unpacks how evidence-based policymaking can be improved to increase the production of sound evidence, improve the use of evidence at all stages of policymaking, and apply a racial equity and justice lens to research and outcomes.
Equity Scholars will participate in a supported cohort to enhance Urban research on the effects of structural racism, offer evidence-based solutions, and increase the impact of the scholars’ work. The application deadline is June 1, 2021.
