• Home
  • Archive
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • May 24, 2025

The Madison Times

The Paper That's More Than Black and White

  • News
    • Local News
    • National News
    • International News
    • Sports News
    • Education News
  • Columns
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Life Lessons with Alex Gee
  • Events
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Lifestyle
  • Classifieds
  • Community
    • Middle Spread
  • Milwaukee

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Uninsured blacks eligible for more aid

December 11, 2013

By Jazelle Hunt, Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – As President Obama continues a revised campaign to shore up American confidence in the Affordable Care Act, a new report released today points out that six out of 10 uninsured African Americans who are eligible for insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces – 4.2 million people – may also be eligible for federal options and/or financial assistance with healthcare costs.
According to the report from the Department of Health and Human Services, 2.2 million may qualify for either tax credits to help purchase plans in the Health Insurance Marketplace, while the other 2 million may qualify for free to low-cost coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). To be eligible for the Health Insurance Marketplace one must be non-elderly and lawfully living in the United States.
Under the law, states can decide whether or not to expand Medicaid coverage to people living on at least 138 percent of the federal poverty line (currently, it’s $15,857 per year for a single person, and $38,047 per year for a family of five). This provision expands the safety net for people who are just above the poverty line, but still unable to afford packages from private companies. The government is required to provide 100 percent of funding for the first three years (phasing down to no less than 90 percent federal funding in subsequent years) to any state that expands Medicaid.
Today, 6.8 million African Americans of all ages are uninsured. Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, and New York are home to the highest populations of uninsured African Americans who are eligible for the ACA’s provisions. Of those, only New York has expanded Medicaid.
If all 50 states expanded Medicaid, 95 percent of uninsured African Americans would be eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or Marketplace tax credits, including those without dependents in the home who have traditionally been barred from Medicaid. In addition to using the virtual marketplace to compare plans offered by the private companies in their own state, the uninsured also have the option to become insured through Medicaid, insure their children through CHIP, or use federal tax credits to mitigate the cost of a private plan from the marketplace.
Currently, 26 states have done so, and according to the report, Medicaid currently covers 60 percent of eligible uninsured African Americans. However, an additional 2.2 million eligible uninsured African American adults with family incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty level live in states that are not expanding Medicaid. Twice as many uninsured African Americans live at the 138 percent FPL threshold, but only 1.5 million live in Medicaid expansion states. That leaves nearly 3 million people stuck between having too much income to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private plans in the marketplace without assistance.
That assistance comes in the form of tax credits to help purchase plans from the Marketplace. In states that do expand Medicaid, individuals and families with household incomes from 138 to 400 percent of the federal poverty level may be eligible for the credits (that’s $38,047 to $110,281 per year for a family of five). In states that do not expand Medicaid, those with family incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the FPL may qualify for tax credits (or $27,570 to $110,281 per year for a family of five).
The tax credits are significant. For a family of four with an income of $50,000 in Houston, Texas’ Houston County for example, the second-lowest coverage insurance package would cost $658 monthly, before applying the tax credit. With the credit, they’re covered for $282 per month (or $74 per month, for the lowest level of coverage).
For a single 27 year-old with an income of $25,000 in the south Los Angeles area, the second lowest level of coverage is $182/month before the credit, and $145 after (or, $122 and $92, respectively, per month, for the “catastrophic” plan).
This report is another in a stream of reports, speeches, and grassroots level talking points on the benefits of enrolling in the Health Insurance Market began initiated last week by the Obama administration. The reception so far has been mixed.

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Read More - Related Articles

  • Preserving Nelson Mandela’s legacy
    Preserving Nelson Mandela’s legacy
  • Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Both Conservatives, Joined the Court’s Three Liberals in the Majority
  • Gas Prices Have Fallen for the Last Seven Weeks
  • Under growing pressure, Arizona State bans racially insensitive fraternity
    Under growing pressure, Arizona State bans racially insensitive fraternity
  • New App Helps Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Overcome Employment Barriers


Connect With Us

Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On Twitter
Follow Us On Twitter

Editorials

Karma Chavez
Amanda Zhang
Julianne Malveaux
Benjamin Chavis
George Curry

Journalists

Jacklin Bolduan
Brianna Rae
Aarushi Agni
Rob Franklin
Claire Miller

Topics

Brown Girl Green $
Young Gifted & Black
Universally Speaking
Ask Progress
Civil Rights

Topics

Police Shooting
Police Brutality
Black Lives Matter
NAACP
Racism

Politicians

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Gwen Moore
Paul Soglin
Scott Walker

Contact Us

Phone:
414-449-4860

Copyright © 2025 Courier Communications. All Rights Reserved.
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.