Great News: Signing Up for a HealthCare.gov Plan Just Got More Affordable in Tennessee
Most people qualify for financial help and 88% can find a plan for under $75

On November 1, the Affordable Care Act marketplaces open for business across the country. The most important thing people need to know is that coverage is affordable and according to the latest analysis from Health and Human Services, people can find even more affordable plans this year than in years past.

That’s right. This year 88% of Tennesseans can find a plan for under $75 each month because of the financial assistance that is available that lowers someone’s monthly premiums. Last year, 81% of people in Tennessee were able to find a plan for less than $75 each month.

What does this mean? There are plans at HealthCare.gov this year that are more affordable than ever before. In fact, health experts at Oliver Wyman found that plans with premiums that are zero dollars each month “are more prevalent now than they were”.

Cheaper plans are available because of Trump’s decision to stop making cost sharing reduction payments which raised costs for certain plans but because of how the ACA marketplaces are structured people’s tax credits to lower their costs will increase dramatically. While the headlines of rate increases have caused a lot of anxiety for people, the facts are that most people will be able to find even more affordable plans.

Here are the key topline data points from the HHS report:

• People will pay less for coverage this year than ever before. 88% of people in Tennessee who look for plans at HealthCare.gov will be able to find plans for less than $75 each month. (page 37)
  
  
• Tax credits protect people from rate increases. A 27-year-old earning $25,000 a year will get a monthly tax credit of $472 each month, a 92% increase, from $245 each month. This increase is because tax credits are set against the second lowest cost silver plan and because of Trump’s decision to stop making cost sharing reduction payments the rates for these plans have increased which means tax credits have too. (page 31)

Less than a year ago, agencies worked together to complete a thorough evaluation, which consisted of thousands of man-hours of research and analysis, evidence gathering for more than a year, an extensive comment period in which all stakeholders, including the auto industry, were deeply involved and to which the EPA responded. Based on this
extensive scientific record and stakeholder involvement, EPA made the decision to keep the standards – as they are – out to 2025.

A rollback of the clean cars standards would take America backwards, endangering public health, forcing Americans to spend thousands of dollars more on gas (instead of on their families) and putting jobs at risk.

• By 2025, vehicle efficiency and clean car standards are expected to (all numbers are total benefits from
  2012-2025):
• Nearly double vehicle efficiency;
• Save 6 billion metric tons of dangerous tail-pipe pollution;
• Save America 12 billion barrels of oil;
• Save individual consumers $1,460 to $1,620 in fuel costs by the time the standards are fully
  implemented; and
• Save Americans $67 billion to $122 billion over the lifetime of vehicles when the standards are
  fully implemented.

Reversing vehicle efficiency and clean car standards will cost lives Americans deserve clean air and clean water. Rolling back vehicle efficiency and clean car standards will only increase pollution and trigger negative public health impacts like asthma attacks and heart attacks due to impacts from climate change.

• Weakening standards to cut tailpipe carbon pollution will further contribute to climate change, which can worsen asthma symptoms for the 24 million Americans – including 6.3 million children – who suffer from asthma.

Rolling back clean cars standards would cost families real money 
Rolling back vehicle efficiency and clean car standards is a hidden tax on families – literally making everything they do more expensive.

• The vast majority of Americans support making cars and trucks run on less gas because it saves
  them money. This matters the most to low and middle-income Americans who are hurting the
  most – because gas is a growing share of their household expenses.
• Lower-to- middle income households ($30,000 or less) report spending up to 10 percent of their
  income on gasoline. The average household spends about $1,500 a year on gasoline. When the
  price of gas spikes, that figure multiplies. In 2025, consumers would save between $3,200 and
  $5,700 over the life of a new car.
• Existing clean cars standards ensure that Americans who need bigger vehicles for family or work
  have fuel-efficient choices. New truck buyers will save, on average, about $4,800 to $8,200 over
  the lifetime of a new 2025 truck. If corporate lobbyists succeed in rolling back these standards,
  those choices will disappear, and the Americans who need the savings the most will be hurt.

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