Congressman Cohen explains the American Rescue Plan and it's impact on Memphis

Written by Congressman Steve Cohen 

Congressman Cohen visiting the Community Vaccination Center at the Pipkin Building. (Photo provided by FEMA.)

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) that I voted for last week and that President Biden has now signed into law is truly transformational for residents of Memphis. Not only does it address the immediate needs associated with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout, which has led to much misery, closed businesses and increased unemployment, but it also shores up our modern social safety net in a way that’s both unexpected and long overdue.  

The ARP, as it is coming to be known, will make significant investments in putting vaccines in arms, children in schools, money in pockets, and people back in jobs. It will also significantly improve access to affordable health care, which is critical during this historic public health crisis. It provides direct payments of $1,400 per qualified individual, expands the Child Tax Credit, improves the Earned Income Tax Credit, and broadens the reach of dozens of critical social welfare programs. 

It will also expand health coverage to working and middle-class Americans by temporarily expanding Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace subsidies to cover more middle-class families, expanding ACA subsidies for people on unemployment, and fully subsidizing COBRA coverage.   

As you may have heard, the ARP also includes provisions to allow states to extend Medicaid eligibility to women for 12 months postpartum and to cover COVID-19 vaccines and treatment under Medicaid with no cost-sharing and 100 percent federal reimbursement.  

Very significantly, the American Rescue Plan provides a new incentive for states to expand Medicaid by temporarily increasing the base Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by five percentage points for two years for any state that newly expands.  

Tennessee is one of the 12 states that has continually rejected the option to expand. It would be worse than negligent for our Governor and state legislators to reject this opportunity to provide potentially life-saving coverage for tens of thousands of Tennesseans at no cost for half-baked ideological reasons. A refusal to expand our TennCare program would be both costly and deadly.  

If the state expanded Medicaid, at least 250,000 would gain access to coverage, more than 100,000 of whom currently have no access to coverage because they’re in the coverage gap: ineligible for TennCare but earning too little to qualify for ACA subsidies. Moreover, the federal government would provide nearly four times the cost to Tennessee of covering the additional beneficiaries over two years. 

The ARP also provides Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds to states to help meet the demand of increased caseloads. It allocates more funding to the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program, and expands the Pandemic-EBT Program so that low-income families have access to school meals and food assistance during both the school year and summer months. 

The bill provides $39 billion through the Child Care and Development Block Grant for child care providers as the country reopens and provides financial relief for families struggling to cover tuition.  

Memphis families will be aided by improvements to the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, including an increase in the amount of child and dependent care expenses that are eligible for the credit to $8,000 for one qualifying individual and $16,000 for two or more qualifying individuals. 

Another boon to Memphis families will be the expanded Child Tax Credit, which is made fully refundable, and has been increased from the current $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child, and $3,600 for a child under age 6.  

Head Start programs, TANF, housing assistance and other programs have also been given the support they need to meet increased needs.  

It has always made sense to expand these programs to show that they can meet their true and intended potential when they are fully funded. What we’ve done to respond to the pandemic in last year’s relief packages and this new American Rescue Plan should make a real difference in peoples’ lives. This will be an infusion of support that Memphians will feel and see. I am proud to have been a part of bringing it about, and will always be eager to tell you more about it. 

Congressman Cohen represents Tennessee’s Ninth Congressional District.