The American Rescue Plan People Difference
ARP powered historic jobs recovery – with the largest calendar increase in jobs on record, unemployment down to 3.8%, and record drops in Hispanic Unemployment and Youth Unemployment – and ensured less scarring than any recovery in memory.
Lowering Health Care Costs and Increasing Health Coverage
- 14.5 million Americans – the most ever – signed up for ACA marketplace plans due to, on average, 50% lower costs in premiums for returning consumers.
- Nationwide, existing consumers with a new or updated plan selection after ARP saved an average of $67 (or 50%) per consumer per month on premiums, totaling $537 million per month in savings. In twenty states and the District of Columbia, existing consumers saved over $75 per month, on average, due to the ARP.
- Nationwide, existing consumers with a new or updated plan selection after ARP saved an average of $67 (or 50%) per consumer per month on premiums, totaling $537 million per month in savings. In twenty states and the District of Columbia, existing consumers saved over $75 per month, on average, due to the ARP.
- 5.8 million more Americans have health insurance today than a year ago. Between 2016 and 2019, 3.6 million Americans lost coverage.
- A family of four is saving an average of $2,400 on their annual premiums. Four out of five consumers could find quality coverage for under $10 a month.
Investing in Mental Health:
- $3 billion invested in expanding access to mental health and substance use services at the state level – largest one-time investment in history for mental health and substance use programs.
- Billions more in American Rescue Plan funding are being used to address mental health challenges affecting our children, including through hiring school social workers and counselors. With the help of American Rescue Plan K-12 funding, schools have already seen a 65% increase in social workers, and a 17% increase in counselors.
Fighting COVID
- Distributed 200 million vaccines, and millions of therapeutics using ARP dollars.
- 375 million at-home tests per month now available; before ARP, no at-home tests.
- $14.5 billion to address COVID for America’s veterans, including support for 37,000 homeless veterans.
Getting Kids Back in School
- Today, 99% of schools are open. Before ARP, only 46% of schools were open in-person.
- Major Investments in Keeping Schools Open, Combatting Learning Loss & Addressing Mental Health Challenges: Independent experts estimate based on school district plans that 59% of school districts are using ARP funds to hire/retain teachers and counselors, 35% are using ARP funds to hire/retain psychologists and mental health staff, and 52% are using ARP funds for HVAC and ventilation.
- A survey from the School Superintendents Association indicated 82% of superintendents plan to use funds to expand social, emotional, mental and physical health and development.
Supporting Working Families
- Expanded Child Tax Credit for Working Families – Helping Deliver Record Lows in Child Poverty.
- The 2021 CTC will reach a record nearly 40 million families with 65 million children.
- Expanded $3,000 credit for kids age 6-17 and $3,600 for kids under 6
- Experts estimate that the Child Tax Credit was the main driver in the American Rescue Plan bringing child poverty to record lows in 2021– including record low Black and Hispanic child poverty.
- Economic Impact Payments for Vast Majority of Americans
- Over 170 million Economic Impact Payments to 85% of all Americans – including an additional 19+ million payments to Social Security beneficiaries, 3 million payments to SSI beneficiaries, and 320,000 payments to Veterans who would not have received these benefits under normal tax filing requirements.
- Over 170 million Economic Impact Payments to 85% of all Americans – including an additional 19+ million payments to Social Security beneficiaries, 3 million payments to SSI beneficiaries, and 320,000 payments to Veterans who would not have received these benefits under normal tax filing requirements.
- Ensured Kids didn’t go hungry in the summer
- Estimated 30 million kids fed with first nationwide Summer supplemental nutrition program – more than 10x higher than 2019 summer meals for kids.
- Estimated 30 million kids fed with first nationwide Summer supplemental nutrition program – more than 10x higher than 2019 summer meals for kids.
- Unprecedented Emergency Rental Relief and Eviction Prevention
- Over 4 million Emergency Rental Assistance payments to tenants in a single year – by orders of magnitude the largest eviction prevention effort in history.
- Eviction filings at just 60% of historic averages in 5 months after CDC moratorium – even though some had projected an eviction tsunami.
- More than doubled the amount of LIHEAP – the most ever going to help with Heating and Cooling Costs of well over 5 million households
Helping People Get Back to Work
- Most One-Time Support for Childcare Providers Ever to Keep Them Open and Operating
- 150,000+ providers supported by childcare stabilization payments so far, the most support for childcare providers ever.
- More than 5 million children served by these providers.
- Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for Workers
- Tripled EITC for 17 million workers without dependent children from $540 to $1500 – first increase since 1993 – and extended the credit to younger & older workers.
- Helping millions of front-line workers: This expansion will help nearly 1.8 million cashiers and retail salespeople; almost 1 million cooks and food prep workers; and more than 850,000 nurses and health aides, 500,000 janitors, 400,000 truck and delivery drivers, and 300,000 childcare workers.
- Getting Americans Back to Work with State and Local Investments
- Over half of states and scores of cities across the country have invested in workforce development, apprenticeships, training, and premium pay for essential workers – with premium pay to nearly 750,000 essential workers.
- State and local governments added 467,000 jobs in 2021 – best year since 2001.
Staying True to Our Veterans:
- ARP provided resources for veterans currently receiving housing support, including an estimated 37,000 homeless veterans.
- ARP cancelled health care copayment charges for 2.5 million veterans during the pandemic – worth $1 billion.
- ARP Child Tax Credit expansion meant that roughly 5 million children in veteran and Active Duty families are receiving the credit for 2021, per CBPP estimates.
- ARP invested in 16,000 veterans’ health care with ARP funds for 158 State Veterans Homes operations and for State Veterans Home renovations and capital projects.
- ARP funding is enabling the Veterans Benefits Administration to reduce the claims backlog from 212,000 in March 2021 to 100,000 by September 2022.
Rescuing and Transforming Our Communities:
- Dozens of cities and 21 states have already committed ARP Fiscal Recovery Funds to public safety, including critical investments in gun crime prevention – hiring and retaining police officers for community policing and investing in critical technology to take on increases in gun and other violent crimes, and supporting evidence-based community violence interventions and summer youth employment.
- State and local, Education and HUD investments in affordable housing and fighting homelessness:
- ARP Department of Education program to provide services and enable full attendance for students experiencing homelessness will reach 1.5 million children.
- ARP added about 70,000 emergency vouchers to the rental market through HUD.
- ARP funded new housing counseling program which is expected to provide 80,000 housing counseling sessions.
- Roughly half of cities and states are investing some portion of their State and Local Funds in housing assistance and investments – from New Jersey’s $750 million eviction prevention and utilities program to Austin and Travis County’s $200 million ARP investment in a comprehensive plan to take on its homelessness crisis.
- Broadband Investments underway across the country: 20 states have already invested Fiscal Recovery Funds to expand broadband access – in addition to $10 billion Capital Projects Fund which they can use to help ensure that all communities have access to high quality modern infrastructure needed to access critical services, including broadband.
- Even with more on the way, states and territories have already announced about $9 billion in ARP investments to expand high speed internet access.
- Long-needed investments in clean water: with 21 states already committing Fiscal Recovery Funds to improve water and sewer infrastructure, including removing lead pipes.
- Even with more on the way, states and territories have already announced investing $7.5 billion in ARP funds for water and sewer improvements.
Providing Permanent Tax Relief for Puerto Rico Families
- Made hundreds of thousands of families in Puerto Rico eligible for CTC for first time – previously ~90% of families excluded from CTC.
- First-ever Federal Support for Puerto Rico’s EITC, more than tripling workers’ benefits.
Most support ever for Tribal Communities
- $32 billion to Tribal communities and Native people, the largest in assistance to tribal governments in history.
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