The claim: The Inflation Reduction Act expands free health insurance to people under 65
After more than a year of negotiation, a $740 billion climate and health care bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act became law Aug. 16 with a few strokes of President Joe Biden’s pen.
Biden described the legislation as a “godsend” and “one of the most significant laws in our history.”
The law will do a variety of things, including allowing the government to negotiate the prices of costly prescription drugs and extend subsidies for people buying their own health insurance.
A recent Facebook postthat has been shared nearly 700 times claims it does much more than that.
“$0 Health Insurance Is Here!” reads the Aug. 7 post, which has alsoaccumulated more than 1,000 comments. “Congress Approves $700bn package, $0 Health Insurance expanded to Americans under 65.”
But the new law won't, as the post claims, expand free health insurance to a large swath of Americans, experts say.It only extends existing subsidies for people who buy health insurance on the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act.
The post also predates the signing of the legislation and offers no proof for its claim. Itsimply urges users to "see if you qualify now,"but doing so onlydirects users to message the Facebook page, which was just created in May.
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USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.
Lawwill help with cost of insurance premiums, prescription drugs
There is no evidencethe Inflation Reduction Act expands free health insurance to people younger than 65 years old. A summary of the legislation released by the White House lists several measures related to health care, but it doesn't mention free health insurance.
"The post is largely false," Gideon Lukens, director of health research and data analysis for theCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities, told USA TODAY. "It implies that the Inflation Reduction Act expanded benefits and made coverage free for everyone under age 65."
The law does include a three-year extension of tax credits that increase the number of people eligible forhealth insurance with no out-of-pocket coststhrough the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act, Lukens said. But that's not in line with the post's claim about expanded free coverage.
"This impacts only a targeted group who have low incomes and are eligible for the ACA marketplaces, which is a very small fraction of all people under age 65," Lukenssaid. "Moreover, even this targeted group with zero premium costs will have other cost sharing, so they will not receive totally 'free' health care."
The legislation, though, does takesteps to address the cost of health care in other ways.
The U.S. spends significantly more on health care than other wealthy countries, with total spending reaching more than $4 trillion in 2020, or about $12,000 a person, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The law will help 13 million people save an average of $800 a year on health insurance premiums, and 3 million more people will have health insurance than otherwise would without the law, according to theWhite House summary.
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It also allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, which has long been opposed by the pharmaceutical industry. That means between 5 million and7 million people on Medicare could see the cost of their prescription drugs go down, the White House said.
PolitiFact hasalso debunkedthe claim.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSEthe claim thatthe Inflation Reduction Act expanded free health insurance to people under 65. The law doesn't expand coverage for this age group; it extends existing subsidies forpeople who buy health insurance on the government marketplace. But that only applies to a fraction of Americans younger than 65.
Our fact-check sources:
- Gideon Lukens, Aug. 24, Email exchange with USA TODAY
- The White House, Aug. 15, 2022,BY THE NUMBERS: The Inflation Reduction Act
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accessed Aug. 23,NHE Fact Sheet
- Association of American Medical Colleges, Aug. 17,The Inflation Reduction Act will cut health care costs for some patients. But we need to do more
- Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, Jan. 21,How does health spending in the U.S. compare to other countries?
- CNN, Aug. 16,Biden signs Inflation Reduction Act into law
- USA TODAY, Aug. 16,Biden signs climate and health care bill. Now, Democrats race to explain its benefits
- USA TODAY, Aug. 17,Prescription drugs, taxes, climate change: What the Inflation Reduction Act will mean for you
- USA TODAY, Aug. 7,Senate OKs sweeping bill lowering drug prices and promoting clean energy, setting up major Biden win
- Healthcare.gov, accessed Aug. 23, See plans & prices
- PolitiFact, Aug. 19,No, the Inflation Reduction Act didn’t expand free health insurance for most Americans
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