As Congress considers passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, Urban looks at several legislative provisions that would affect health care, including extension of the enhanced premium tax credits and drug coverage.
Without an extension of the enhanced PTCs, 3.1 million more people will be uninsured, and the non-Hispanic Black population, young adults, and low-income groups will experience the largest coverage losses.
About 850,000 additional adult women of reproductive age will be uninsured in 2023 if enhanced credits expire. Uninsured women are at higher risk of an unintended pregnancy—and many could lose coverage in states with restrictions on abortion access.
In 2019, a $2,000 annual spending cap would have saved Medicare Part D enrollees with high out-of-pocket drug spending $900 on average without substantially raising program costs.
The federal government could do more to hold electronic health record developers accountable for data integration. And payment reform could incentivize data sharing and infrastructure development.
New data show 45 percent of nonelderly adults living with children preferred the advance CTC payments, whereas 27 percent wanted a single payment. Lack of awareness and confusion over eligibility caused some families to miss out.
