By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - Nearly 50 million Americans have been covered through Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces since 2014, the US Treasury Department said in a statement Tuesday.
The figure is equivalent to one in seven Americans, according to the new data released by the Treasury Department.
The number of Americans covered through the health insurance marketplaces has reached an all-time high of 20.8 million following open enrollment for 2024, it said, adding that 18.2 million Americans have enrolled for the first time since January 2021.
Families over 400% of the federal poverty level, or about $58,000 for a single person and $120,000 for a family of four for 2024 enrollment, gained access to the Affordable Care Act premium tax credit for the first time under the Joe Biden Administration, it added.
The Biden administration has lowered costs for Affordable Care Act coverage by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans, the White House said in a separate statement.
"Congressional Republicans have voted more than 50 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would take health care away from tens of millions of Americans, threaten coverage for more than 100 million with pre-existing conditions, increase health care and prescription costs for families, and so much more," said Biden.
The Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010, as it is considered a major overhaul in the US health care system since the 1960s.