Washington Delivers Big: American Rescue Plan

by Matthew Rose

Washington delivers big, with the American Rescue Plan passed, and the effects are being felt all around the country. I wanted to highlight some good pieces of the law that I think need to make sure communities are taking advantage to help address issues caused by the pandemic and others exacerbated by it. Everyone knows about the stimmy checks and the unemployment increase until September. Here’s a few good things that I enjoy healthcare (I’m a nerd and just love what’s happening in this space) and childcare because what they’ve done is a huge deal.

First, study after study has shown that expanding Medicaid is one of the essential pieces of bettering health outcomes. The Rescue plan recognizes this and is trying to offer some sweeteners to get states that haven’t taken the expansion to do so, potentially allowing millions of people to access healthcare. States can receive a five percentage point increase in their regular federal matching rate for two years after expansion takes effect. This triggers whenever a state newly expands Medicaid and does not expire. The new incentive is available to the 12 states that have not yet adopted the expansion, Missouri, and Oklahoma, which are expected to have their state ball expansion in July 2021. This can be an essential tool for local campaigns trying to expand the program.

Additionally, the Plan ensures that keep healthcare is going to a priority in a pandemic. The American Rescue Plan will cover 100% federal continuation health coverage (COBRA) costs through  September 1, ensuring that those who lose their jobs or lose their health care due to reduced hours don’t lose their health care. This will allow people to keep their coverage and not pay what can be a high premium when you currently don’t have work.

Next is the amazing expansion of the child tax credit. It is expanding and enhances the child tax credit. Under the new law, families are set to receive a $3,000 annual benefit per child ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 per child under 6 in the tax year 2021. CNBC has a great tool to see if you’re eligible for the new credit, and if you are, payments could start as soon as this summer. This could give families  $250 for school-aged children beginning as early as July 2021.

These particular provisions give more lines about where the democrat party wants to take the scope of their wok and its effects in the coming months and how they will try to drive the outcomes to those feeling the most pain. These policies would be a test case to set a standard that would have far-reaching implications beyond just the pandemic. The congressional budget office said that the child tax credit could cut child poverty in half in one year. And the tax credit could be extended in potentially a future package to give it several more years of juice. Additionally, the Medicaid expansion has been viral whenever it gets on to a ballot. Now is the place and time to try to get other states that don’t have a ballot process but still have not expanded the population to engage in what could be healthcare indeed.

This is the beginning, and we will see where the federal government goes next. Mostly likely it will be this massive infrastructure bill that will cover public works projects, education, climate change and tax reform. It’s going to be big bill but could have a lot of benefits to the public.