[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     PENNSYLVANIA'S ACA MARKETPLACE

  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I wish to speak about encouraging news 
from Pennsylvania. A June 17 article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
details how Pennsylvania's health insurance marketplace, established 
through the Affordable Care Act, is working as intended for enrollees. 
I would like to enter this article into the Record as evidence of how 
the Affordable Care Act is expanding access to health insurance, in 
Pennsylvania and throughout our Nation. I ask unanimous consent that 
the full text of the article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           [From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 17, 2014]

             Pa. Health Marketplace `Working' for Enrollees


                68% had premiums of $100 or less: report

                            (By Steve Twedt)

       Pennsylvanians who selected midrange coverage ``silver'' 
     plans in the new private health insurance marketplace created 
     as part of the federal Affordable Care Act paid an average 
     monthly premium of $60 with tax credits, according to a new 
     report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
       Overall for all four plans--bronze, silver, gold and 
     platinum--68 percent of enrollees had premiums of $100 or 
     less after factoring in tax credits and 47 percent found 
     plans with premiums of $50 a month or less, the report said.
       ``What we're finding is that the marketplace is working for 
     Pennsylvanians,'' said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell in a 
     release. ``Consumers have more choices, and they're paying 
     less for their premiums.''
       More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians have signed up for a 
     marketplace health plan since enrollment began Oct. 1. 
     Nationally, the number of enrollees has surpassed 8 million 
     who HHS says have collectively saved nearly $1.2 billion in 
     premiums from what insurers had originally sought.
       The exchanges are an integral part of the 2010 Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act, designed to give people, 
     and particularly the uninsured, access to low-cost health 
     insurance.
       The tax credits for lower income enrollees are a major 
     factor in plan affordability, as the HHS report said; 
     Pennsylvanians who were eligible for tax credits saw their 
     monthly premiums decrease by 74 percent, from $330 to $84.
       Information about the tax credits, including eligibility 
     requirements, can be found at the IRS website: www.irs.gov/
uac/Newsroom/Questions-and-Answers-on-the-Premium-Tax-Credit.

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