In today’s rapidly changing health care landscape, access to affordable coverage can make all the difference in the lives of millions of Americans. From managing life-threatening illnesses to ensuring peace of mind, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has reshaped how families experience health care across the country.
Recently, rolling out CEO and publisher Munson Steed sat down with Christen Linke Young, a key figure in the Biden administration, to discuss the profound impact of the ACA and ongoing efforts to make health care affordable for every American. With the White House celebrating 50 million people gaining coverage under the ACA, Young’s insights reveal just how far we’ve come — and how much more there is to achieve for a healthier, more secure future.
[Editor’s note: This is a truncated transcribe of a longer video interview. Please see the video for the extended version. Some errors may occur.]
What would you like to share about health care coverage in this country right now?
Here at the White House, we are celebrating today that 50 million Americans have, at some point in the last decade, gotten coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. That’s on top of the tens of millions more who’ve had coverage through Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But there are 50 million people who’ve gotten the security and peace of mind that comes with knowing they have affordable health coverage.
What is the White House doing to advocate for those who don’t have access or don’t know how to get health care?
We have been focused here on doing everything we can to help Americans get and keep health insurance. The first step we took was to lower premiums for people buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act. We’ve been able to lower health insurance premiums by about $800 per person per year, and that has taken health insurance and really put it within reach for millions of families. As a result, 9 million more people have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act today than when President Biden took office. It’s been an incredible growth as we’ve taken steps to lower costs and really make health care more affordable for people. But we’re not stopping there. We are hard at work every day, making sure that all Americans have the opportunity to get and keep health insurance. We are out there, reaching out to folks in communities to provide the assistance that people need to get enrolled. We’ve quadrupled funding for the programs that help provide in-person assistance to help people get enrolled in coverage. And we’ve seen those programs really work and help some of the most vulnerable people get connected to the health insurance they need.
What does it mean when there’s a vulnerable population that now has coverage or can afford coverage for their families in those moments without that gap?
At the White House, we receive letters from folks every day talking about what health insurance means to them. Sometimes, they are people who have put off cancer screenings, put off taking care of themselves, and finally were able to get health insurance now that it’s more affordable. They go to the doctor, get that mammogram they’ve been putting off, and catch a lump, getting treatment early for something that otherwise could have been a big problem. Sometimes, we hear from folks who haven’t needed any medical care but feel the weight lifted off their chest, knowing that they are covered—that their insurance is there for them if anything were to happen to them or their family. President Biden talks a lot about the dignity of being able to provide for your family, of being able to get health insurance. That is part of the American dream—to ensure that you can take care of your family and your loved ones. And that’s really what we’re about in trying to get people covered through the Affordable Care Act.
How does it feel knowing that you’re serving your country in a way that will affect future generations of Americans? How do you forecast seeing a brighter future for us as a country?
Thank you so much for that question. The president and vice president believe that health care is a right, not a privilege. I have the great honor of coming to work every day for a pair of bosses that are trying to make that a reality. Here at the White House, we do everything we can every day to bring us closer to that vision of America where everyone has access to the care they need and can afford the health services that are going to help them get and stay well.
For women—the moms, grandmoms, and aunts—who are often the caretakers of others and themselves, what does it mean that you are making health care affordable for them? Talk about those people who are often leading the household, making tough decisions about budgets, and what this can mean for them and their families.
We hear all the time from people—moms raising kids, maybe [those kids are] teenagers now—who have gone decades without going to see a doctor for themselves. They scrimped and saved to get their kids connected to health insurance and to the doctor but hadn’t been able to take care of themselves. That’s especially true for women because, before Obamacare was enacted, health insurance companies used to charge women more than men for the exact same health insurance, putting it out of reach for a lot of women, especially in their 40s and 50s.
We hear from those folks who, because we’ve made that coverage more affordable and we’re keeping insurance companies from discriminating, are able to get that coverage for themselves and take care of things they’d gone without for a long time. Women across the country are benefiting from this coverage. We also hear from moms and grandmas who really appreciate the opportunity for their kids to get covered. We’ve made it a lot easier for people just starting out in their careers to stay connected to health insurance when they’re 19, 20, 25, or 26.
We’ve helped those folks stay connected to health insurance. And we hear all the time from moms and grandmas who appreciate that it’s easier for their kids to take care of themselves and that there’s a weight lifted off of them knowing that their child has coverage if they’re in an accident, get sick, or need basic preventive care like a flu shot or COVID shot. We’re able to do that for them because we’ve made coverage more affordable.
