Discover how President Biden is protecting and expanding affordable health coverage for Black Americans through the ACA.
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For 14 years, the Affordable Care Act has empowered millions of Americans to receive low-cost, quality health care coverage. A record-breaking number of Americans have enrolled in health insurance plans through the ACA marketplace under President Biden and Vice President Harris – a testament to their strong leadership as they continue to fulfill their promise to improve access to care, expand coverage options, and make health care more affordable. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans continue to threaten to dismantle the ACA, putting health care coverage at risk for millions of Americans – including Black Americans, who are disproportionately at risk of having their health care ripped away.
DNC Director of Outreach Communications Tracy King released the following statement:
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting every day to bring down the cost of health care and expand coverage for all Americans, particularly for the Black families who have for too long faced barriers to high-quality health care. The Biden-Harris administration is keeping their promises to Black voters and delivering real wins: expanding coverage under the Affordable Care Act, stopping insurance companies from overcharging patients with preexisting conditions, and mandating that insurers cover essential benefits such as prescription drugs, mental health treatment, and hospitalization fees. After the rate of Black Americans without health insurance skyrocketed under Donald Trump and he tried to cut Medicaid and Medicare in every single one of his budgets, he is now doubling down on his second-term plans to rip the Affordable Care Act away from us. As we mark the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, it’s clearer than ever that our health care is on the ballot this November.”
President Biden continues to make historic gains in health insurance coverage for Black Americans, with millions gaining health care coverage under his leadership.
CNN: “Obamacare sign-ups hit record 21.3 million as Biden pushes his efforts to lower health care costs” “Nearly 5 million more people signed up for Obamacare policies for this year compared with last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, said Wednesday. Notably, about a quarter of people selecting plans were new consumers.”
The Hill: “Biden touts Affordable Care Act enrollment spike”
“The White House is reporting strong enrollment numbers through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) one week after enrollment began, with 300,000 new customers signing up for plans already.”
Washington Post: “ACA linked to reduced racial disparities, earlier diagnosis and treatment in cancer care” AARP: “ACA Has Led to More African Americans Getting Health Insurance” “The number of Black Americans under age 65 without health insurance has dropped by 40 percent since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“In 2011 about 7.1 million African Americans lacked coverage, but by 2019 that number had dropped to 4.4 million, according to the report by researchers in HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).”
President Biden capped the price of insulin at $35 for seniors on Medicare, drastically lowering prices for the roughly 38 percent of Black Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes.
The Root: “Here’s How Biden’s Inflation Act Helps Black Americans With Diabetes”
“Over five million Black Americans live with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Roughly 19 percent of all African Americans in the United States over 20 years old have diabetes, compared to just 7 percent of all white Americans.”
“This could be a huge improvement for many Black Medicare recipients who receive drug coverage and also take insulin. As of 2011, roughly 38 percent of Black Medicare beneficiaries had diabetes, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And nearly a third of Black Medicare beneficiaries reported health care cost-related problems in 2018.”
CNN: “More Americans can now get insulin for $35”
“Congress, the White House and new players in the market have increased pressure on insulin manufacturers to lower their prices. Eli Lilly and Sanofi announced that they would institute $35 caps shortly after President Joe Biden called on drugmakers to do so in his State of the Union address last year.”
Black Americans disproportionately benefit from the ACA’s protections for people with preexisting conditions. KFF: “Moreover, the long history of inequitable health outcomes among Black people reflects the abuses faced during slavery, segregation, mass incarceration and their persistent legacies.”
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “African Americans live with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS at far greater rates than other racial groups.”
Dept. of Health and Human Services: “Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance companies can’t refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a ‘pre-existing condition’ — that is, a health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts. They also can’t charge women more than men.”
The Affordable Care Act is reducing racial disparities in childbirth, helping to curtail the Black maternal health crisis.
White House Fact Sheet: “Within just a few years of the Affordable Care Act’s passage, Black uninsured rates dramatically declined — a key factor in ensuring better maternal health outcomes — as did the persistent health insurance coverage gap between Black and white Americans, which fell by more than 40 percent in the wake of the law’s implementation.”
NBC News: “In December, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted the first federal Maternal Health Day of Action at the White House, where she issued a call to improve health outcomes for parents and infants in the U.S. Months later, she is still using the vice presidential bully pulpit to push for policy and structural changes aimed at saving lives.
“‘In our nation, we are looking at the fact that more women are facing death because of childbirth than in any other developed nation,’ Harris told journalists during a call on Thursday during Black Maternal Health Week. ‘We are looking at the likelihood that Black women are three times more likely to die in connection with childbirth, that Native women are twice as likely to die, that rural women are one and a half times more likely to die.’ “Black Maternal Health Week is an education and advocacy campaign founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance that is observed each April. The White House officially recognized the designated week in 2021, and President Joe Biden issued a proclamation for it this year.”
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