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Kaptur Announces Local Enrollment Numbers on Five-Year
Anniversary of Affordable Care Act
Highlights figures for Toledo and Cleveland areas, positive
impact for working families
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur announced new health insurance
enrollment numbers this morning for the Toledo and Cleveland
areas, marking the five-year anniversary of the Affordable
Care Act. According to the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS), more than 10,496 people have signed up
for health care coverage on the Affordable Care Act Health
Insurance Marketplace in Toledo and the surrounding area. In
the Cleveland-Elyria local area, 47,388 consumers selected
or were automatically enrolled in a health insurance plan.
“In the five years since its adoption, working families have
seen significant benefits from the federal health care law,”
said Kaptur. “Thousands of Ohio’s working families
qualify for income-based tax credits under the law, making
health insurance affordable for them for the first time.
Many of those families are now protected from bankruptcy in
the event of a tragic health event. Workers can no longer be
dropped from the health insurance they paid for on the basis
of a pre-existing condition. Young people are able to stay
on their parents’ plans for longer, making their transition
to full employment more manageable even during tough
economic times. These policies represent nothing less than
life-support for thousands of working families across Ohio
and millions throughout the U.S. I am pleased to continue
supporting them and am baffled that my Republican colleagues
continue to work so hard to undermine them.”
In Ohio, 234,341 consumers selected plans or were
automatically re-enrolled in health insurance coverage
through the Health Insurance Marketplace as of Feb. 22, with
most enrollees receiving an average of $244 in tax credit
support. Eight out of ten Ohioans could select a Marketplace
plan for $100 or less per month.
As a result of the ACA, the 5 million Ohioans with a
pre-existing health condition can no longer be denied health
care coverage. Millions of Americans, and almost 3 million
Ohioans, who already had insurance have seen coverage
improve with new access to preventive services like
vaccines, cancer screenings, and yearly wellness visits at
no out-of-pocket cost. Since the ACA allows young adults to
stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26, 97,000 young
adults in Ohio gained coverage.
This progress comes while projected costs of the law are
consistently revised down, largely due to historically low
rate of increase in average premiums.
“These historic enrollment numbers show that the American
people know the ACA is working for them,” said US Dept. of
Health and Human Services Region 5 Director Kathleen Falk.
“Thanks to the ACA, people can no longer be denied health
insurance because of a preexisting condition, healthcare
spending is increasing at the lowest rate in 50 years, and
people no longer need to worry about being one illness away
from bankruptcy.”
For more information about health insurance enrollment in
Ohio, including qualifications for enrollment outside of the
open enrollment period, visit
www.areyoucoveredohio.org.
For additional information or to schedule an interview with
the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Region V
Director Kathleen Falk, please call 312-226-1788 312-226-1788
or e-mail
lauren.eiten@hhs.gov.
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