Understanding the Premium Tax Credits Provided Under the American Rescue Plan Act

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed this month, extends the premium tax credits for health insurance purchased through the health care marketplace for another 2 years. The credits were included in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and were due to expire at the end of this year.

Vicki Fung, PhD, is associate investigator at the Mongan Institute Health Policy Center, Mass General Research Institute, and lead author of “Premium Tax Credits in the American Rescue Plan and Off-Marketplace Enrollees,” published in the August issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, she details how the expanded premium tax credits help individuals purchasing insurance coverage through the marketplace. She also addresses the important ways these plans differ from employee-purchased coverage and the benefits and drawbacks of each and the difficulties involved when deciding whether or not to switch coverage.