Building on the Affordable Care Act: Strategies to Address Marketplace Enrollees’ Cost Challenges

High deductibles are particularly problematic given many households’ lack of emergency savings. According to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) survey, nearly 1 in 3 individuals have a balance of less than $500 in checking and savings accounts. A separate CFPB survey found that 60 percent of individuals with incomes below 150 percent FPenoL (roughly $20,000 per year) and roughly 40 percent of those with incomes between 150 and 400 percent FPL (approximately $20,000 to $50,000) have no emergency savings. Black and Hispanic households are less likely to have emergency savings than white people, due to policies that limited the employment and wealth-building of non-white households.