Biden declares health care a 'right' as he reopens insurance to millions

President Joe Biden on Monday announced that the federal government has officially started a special enrollment period for Americans who do not have health insurance to be able to purchase coverage through the Obamacare marketplace.

Reopening HealthCare.gov allows up to 4 million uninsured people in the United States to sign up for “Bronze plan” for free health insurance, according to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 4.9 million people are eligible for subsidized health insurance, the analysis found.

“Health care is a right, not a privilege – and I will do everything in my power to ensure that all Americans have access to the quality, affordable health care they deserve,” Biden said in a statement, announcing that the special enrollment period has begun and will run through May 15.

In his statement, Biden made a plug for his coronavirus relief proposal, which includes a provision to make health care more affordable in the midst of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

In the statement, Biden explained his coronavirus relief proposal, currently working its way through Congress:

It will increase federal subsidies and decrease premiums in order to ensure that no one pays more than 8.5% of their income to purchase meaningful and comprehensive health coverage. And it incentivizes states to expand coverage to an additional four million people with low incomes, and provides states the opportunity to extend coverage for a year to low-income women who have recently given birth.

Donald Trump refused to reopen the Obamacare health insurance marketplaces back in April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first began raging.

Instead, Trump and his administration fought to get the Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare — known formally as the Affordable Care Act — which would cause tens of millions of people to lose their insurance coverage in the middle of the pandemic.

“[W]hat we are doing is we want to terminate health care for under Obamacare because it’s bad,” Trump said on May 6, 2020, “and we’re replacing it with a great health care at far less money and it includes preexisting conditions.”

The Supreme Court heard arguments to overturn Obamacare days after the 2020 election but has yet to render a decision.

Trump never released his long-promised health care plan before he left office.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.