--- title: Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act description: President Joe Biden plans to fix the 'family glitch' that has prevented more than 5 million people from accessing Affordable Care Act plans. canonical: https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-04-05T19:49:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:34:23.181Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act og:description: The Administration will tweak the ACA to allow more than five million more people to access the marketplaces og:url: https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt761edf83049d18c8/698a30a3656a3f0049bdc643/Joe-Biden-Barack-Obama-Affordable-Care-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3021 og:image:height: 1699 og:image:alt: Former President Obama Joins President Biden At White House To Mark Passage Of The Affordable Care Act og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act twitter:description: The Administration will tweak the ACA to allow more than five million more people to access the marketplaces twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt761edf83049d18c8/698a30a3656a3f0049bdc643/Joe-Biden-Barack-Obama-Affordable-Care-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=688d8ce2-3449-46ac-8875-ab2958fb9a80&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=688d8ce2-3449-46ac-8875-ab2958fb9a80&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=688d8ce2-3449-46ac-8875-ab2958fb9a80&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=688d8ce2-3449-46ac-8875-ab2958fb9a80&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act [Watch (HLS stream): 10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S8hGNLNB.m3u8) (2:35)  _Published 2017-01-12. As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Apr 5, 2022 7:49 PM UTC As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Apr 5, 2022 7:49 PM UTC President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration is proposing a tweak to the Affordable Care Act to make health insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. The shift would fix what is known as the “family glitch,” a loophole that has prohibited more than 5 million people from accessing subsidized health plans on the ACA marketplaces even if they don’t actually have other affordable options. “It’s a huge deal,” says Katie Keith, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at Georgetown Law’s O’Neill Institute. “It’s one of the biggest things the Biden Administration can do on its own to expand coverage.” The fix, which the Administration can make on its own without relying on the Democrats’ slim majorities in Congress, represents Biden’s latest effort to use the ACA as a vehicle to lower costs and improve coverage for Americans. Biden announced the new change at an event with former President Barack Obama, who signed the ACA into law 12 years ago and was making his first visit to the White House since leaving office in 2017\. Biden’s other health care agenda items remain stalled in Congress. The Treasury Department will propose the new rule; it is expected to go into effect for 2023, a senior Biden Administration official told reporters Monday. That timing could be ideal for Democrats hoping to tout health care achievements before the midterms this fall, when Americans will be preparing for the next open enrollment period. ## What is the ‘family glitch’? The family glitch has to do with who can buy subsidized plans on the ACA marketplaces. Most people can only buy health insurance on the ACA marketplace if they do not have access to a health plan through their employer. The law does allow people to buy ACA plans if the premiums through their job’s health plan would amount to about 10% or more of their household income. But when Obama administration officials wrote the rules implementing the ACA, they calculated eligibility for subsidized ACA plans based on the premiums for an individual employer policy, not one that includes an employee’s spouse or children. Individual policies are usually much cheaper than family coverage. So this has meant that there are cases in which a family’s employer coverage costs far more than 10% of their income but the family members can’t buy a cheaper marketplace plan because the individual employer policy costs less. “Once today’s proposed rule is finalized, starting next year working families in America will get the help they need to afford full family coverage,” Biden said on Tuesday. About 5.1 million people across the country fall into the family glitch, according to [an estimate](https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-aca-family-glitch-and-affordability-of-employer-coverage/) by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation last year. Most of these are women and children. Not all of these people would choose to switch their plans immediately, but the White House estimates that 1 million people would move to cheaper ACA health plans if the rule takes effect, and 200,000 uninsured Americans would gain comprehensive coverage. ## Another executive order Biden and Obama used the event Tuesday to promote how the ACA has helped Americans gain insurance coverage over the years, as well as the steps the Biden Administration has taken to strengthen the law. Both men emphasized the need to push back on Republican efforts to undermine the law. “I know how discouraged people can get with Washington,” Obama said during Tuesday’s event. “But what the Affordable Care Act shows is that if you are driven by the core idea that together we can improve the lives of this generation and the next, and if you’re persistent, if you stay with it, you’re willing to work through the obstacles and the criticism, and continually improve where you fall short, you can make America better.” Biden also signed an executive order on Tuesday that piggy-backs on a 2021 order directing federal agencies to take actions to strengthen the ACA and Medicaid. This order directs agencies to “continue doing everything in their power to expand affordable, quality health coverage.” Democrats still hope to expand health coverage through the Build Back Better Act, which would extend expanded subsidies for ACA health plans and make free or cheap marketplace plans available for low-income Americans in states that have not expanded Medicaid. The legislation, which has been stalled for months, would also lower prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies. It’s unclear whether the Biden Administration’s signature legislation will clear moderate Senate Democrats’ objections. For now, Biden and Obama touted the latest ACA change as the next step forward. ## Transcript [00:00] Today after almost a century of try, today [00:05] after over a year of debate, today after [00:12] all the votes have been tallied health insurance [00:14] perform become law in the United States of America. [00:19] Where the central Promises of Obama's 2008 [00:22] campaign was to, in a way, complete the American [00:26] social safety net, specifically for American's who [00:31] were working, were not necessarily poor, but who [00:35] could not afford health insurance and therefore didn't [00:36] have regular medical care. This is something that most [00:39] other Western nations Provide their citizens with, what [00:42] the US hasn't historically. And he did this with a [00:44] massive bill that did that and many other things. Since [00:48] in the 1960s when medicare and medicate past which [00:52] basically guaranteed healthcare for the poor and for [00:55] the elderly, it has been a priority of democratic leaders [00:59] going back decades To try and extend that to working [01:03] people. And so when Obama came on the scene, he [01:06] was really promising to complete this generation long [01:10] democratic project. He was able to do it because the [01:13] win in 2008 had been so grand. It had been such a [01:17] big win. So for a time, we have a filibuster proof [01:21] majority In the Senate. He had large majorities in the [01:24] house. Most americans didn't really understand all the [01:27] parts of Obamacare. It was a very complicated bill. But [01:30] they had strong feelings. And those feelings tended to [01:33] follow their political leanings. They were conservative [01:35] Republican. They were concerned. It looked like [01:37] government expansion overreach. They were liberal [01:41] and fans of the president They embraced it. [01:43] [ UNKNOWN ] For years, the American people have [01:47] been calling on Washington, to build a bridge away [01:49] from Obamacare. The story of republican opposition to [01:53] Obamacare, isn't about Obamacare. It's about the way [01:55] Republicans decided to oppose President Barack [01:58] Obama from the very beginning. They lost the ability in [02:01] some way to shape the legislation to make it more [02:02] palatable. But they decided that political opposition [02:05] made permanent campaign was more beneficial that [02:08] [ UNKNOWN ]. And the biggest strangers, the most [02:11] visible ones are the ones that are almost certain to stay [02:14] but even president- elect Donald Trump wants to [02:16] keep around are we a very popular visitations around [02:19] children and the young girls staying at their parents [02:22] house [ UNKNOWN ]. And they'd be getting rid of [02:24] pre- existing conditions. That was a tremendous [02:26] change and really just, a dramatic rethinking of a way [02:29] insurance has been carried out in this country. [02:31] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/"},"headline":"President Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act","datePublished":"2022-04-05T19:49:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:34:23.181Z","description":"President Joe Biden plans to fix the 'family glitch' that has prevented more than 5 million people from accessing Affordable Care Act plans.","url":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt761edf83049d18c8/698a30a3656a3f0049bdc643/Joe-Biden-Barack-Obama-Affordable-Care-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt761edf83049d18c8/698a30a3656a3f0049bdc643/Joe-Biden-Barack-Obama-Affordable-Care-Act.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former President Obama Joins President Biden At White House To Mark Passage Of The Affordable Care Act","caption":"Former President Obama Joins President Biden At White House To Mark Passage Of The Affordable Care Act","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/","name":"President Biden Moves to Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"10 Days That Define the Obama Presidency: The Affordable Care Act","description":"As President Obama's two terms in office come to a close, TIME is taking a look back at the most pivotal moments of his presidency.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/S8hGNLNB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-01-12T18:36:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S8hGNLNB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/","duration":"PT2M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6164531/biden-affordable-care-act-family-glitch/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```