Baker Institute expert available to comment on Affordable Care Act ruling

EXPERT ALERT

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Baker Institute expert available to comment on Affordable Care Act ruling
Vivian Ho: Move would be devastating to Obamacare  

HOUSTON – (July 22, 2014) – A federal appeals court this morning ruled that the federal government may not subsidize health insurance plans purchased by people in states that decided not to set up their own marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. This move would be devastating to Obamacare, according to Vivian Ho, the James A. Baker III Institute Chair in Health Economics at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and professor of economics.

VIVIAN HO

Ho is available to comment on today’s ruling and its implications.

“There were 5.4 million people who bought insurance in 34 states with marketplaces run by the federal government, and 87 percent of those individuals used tax credits to enroll in a plan,” Ho said. “Affordability is clearly an issue for those who became newly insured under Obamacare. In fact, data from Health and Human Services indicates that the average monthly premium after tax credits in these states was $82. Premiums could easily be three times that amount without the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act.”

For more information or to interview Ho, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Related materials:

Ho biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/vivian-ho.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top 15 university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.