Premium and Cost-Sharing Subsidies under Health Reform: Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Affordability

December 18, 2009 Bowen Garrett, Lisa Clemans-Cope, and Matthew Buettgens present a hypothetical experiment where they crafted a final health reform bill that can be passed in both Houses of Congress to balance government costs against making health insurance affordable for low- and middle-income families. The levels of premium and cost- sharing subsidies greatly determine how affordable insurance coverage and access to medical care would be for families under reform. Using the Urban Institute's Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model (HIPSM), they estimate the household financial burdens under the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 (AHFA) proposed . . .