KARACHI – When I ran for President, I promised the American people that I would build on the historic foundation of the Affordable Care Act to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable health care. As part of that promise, just weeks after taking office, my Administration opened a special enrollment period through HealthCare.gov to provide all Americans the opportunity to sign up for health insurance.
Five months later, the results are clear: two million Americans have signed up for the peace of mind that health insurance brings. That’s two million more Americans who can sleep soundly at night, no longer having to worry whether their family would lose everything due to a heart attack, a cancer diagnosis, or an accident. This milestone is in addition to our progress expanding access to health insurance through vital programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which now cover more than 81 million Americans.
I pledged to lower the cost of health care — and that’s exactly what we did with my American Rescue Plan. Thanks to the law, nine million Americans who buy their coverage through the Affordable Care Act have lower premiums, saving families an average of $50 per person per month — that’s $2,400 per year for a typical family of four. In fact, four out of five people can now find a quality plan with a premium of $10 or less per month. And my Build Back Better agenda will expand on these efforts and make health care more affordable — including by adding dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare; closing the Medicaid coverage gap for low-income Americans; and making the premium reductions in the American Rescue Plan permanent.
With 30 days to go until the opportunity for special enrollment closes and more affordable quality plans, now is the time to sign up for health coverage. Today, my Administration is launching a final 30-day “Summer Sprint to Coverage” campaign to help people and communities across America who still need health insurance sign up for it. I encourage everyone who is not yet covered to visit HealthCare.gov and sign up by August 15. If you already have coverage, help get your friends, family, neighbors, and others in your community signed up as well.
More than a decade after the landmark passage of the Affordable Care Act, as we emerge from a once-in-a-century pandemic, we are on our way to truly making health care a right and not a privilege. I urge Congress to do its part by passing the critical health care reforms in my Build Back Better agenda — and I urge all Americans to get covered today.
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