prior to 2021, the Affordable Care Act always offered federal funds to help people buy health insurance based on their need that fell between 100% of the federal poverty limit and 400% of the federal poverty limit.
So, I want to give you the truth about the Affordable Care Act. Most people think that when the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, that it created this substandard form of insurance for a bunch of poor people. And nothing could be further from the truth. Matter of fact, all the Affordable Care Act did is it changed the law by which people consume health insurance and how those health insurance policies are offered.
And in other videos, I've dealt with that topic pretty extensively. But what I want to talk about today is the truth about the Affordable Care Act subsidies and how that system works. So prior to 2021, the Affordable Care Act always offered federal funds to help people buy health insurance based on their need that fell between 100% of the federal poverty limit and 400% of the federal poverty limit. The more money you made, the less subsidy you got.
The less money you made, the more subsidy you got. And that's how the system worked from 2010 until 2021. And if you remember, the Affordable Care Act was something that was passed with democratic legislation. But in 2021, during COVID, the range for the Affordable Care Act was changed.
The rules by which they established that help changed and shifted away from the federal poverty limit and moved rather to the affordability of the second cheapest silver planned in your geographic area. So in essence, what it did is it took the range of subsidies and it increased it many times doubled that range of subsidies. And the goal was to provide federal help for people during a time of COVID when there was a lot of financial instability. And so by covering the cost of health insurance for a short period of time, Uncle Sam thought that there would be more money to stimulate the economy to keep the economy moving forward.
That also was a democratic law that was passed in 2010, but it was designed to be temporary to the end of 2025. So as we enter into 2026, all that's happening is this range of subsidies is snapping back to pre-COVID levels between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty limit. The Republicans are not taking away health insurance. The Democrats are not taking away health insurance.
The system is simply resetting back to how the law worked prior to 2021 moving forward in 2026. So don't look at all the clickbait. Don't jump on the political bandwagon. Don't burn relationships in your life because you think health insurance is going away over politics.
The truth of the matter is understanding how subsidies work will give you better clarity as you enter this 2026 plan year.
In 2021, the range for the Affordable Care Act was changed to move away from the federal poverty limit and instead focus on the affordability of the second cheapest silver plan in your geographic area. This change effectively doubled the range of subsidies available.
Prior to 2021, the Affordable Care Act offered federal funds to help people buy health insurance based on their need, specifically for those earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty limit. The more money you made, the less subsidy you received, and vice versa.
As we enter into 2026, the range of subsidies will revert back to pre-COVID levels, which is between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty limit. This means the system is simply resetting to how it worked before the changes made in 2021.
No, health insurance is not going away due to political changes. The Republicans are not taking away health insurance, nor are the Democrats; the system is just resetting back to its previous structure as it was before 2021.
Talk to a real person.