Treasury says nearly 50 million people have enrolled in Affordable Care Act since 2014

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday announced that nearly 50 million people have received healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act in the past decade.

The department released new data showing that 49.4 million unique individuals, representing one in seven Americans, had been covered under the healthcare law, commonly known as Obamacare, since it went into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that "enrollment has surged under the Biden-Harris administration," reaching an all-time high of 20.8 million people following the open enrollment period for 2024.

Additionally, the Treasury said that since January 2021, 18.2 million Americans have enrolled in ACA coverage for the first time.

"The number of people ever covered through the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces substantially exceeds the number of people covered at any point in time, reflecting the Affordable Care Act's role in providing coverage during life transitions like periods between jobs," the department said.

The Treasury said that higher enrollment was driven by the administration lowering costs by expanding the premium tax credit to include families over 400% of the federal poverty level -- with a household income of $58,000 for a single person and $120,000 for a family of four -- for the first time.

President Joe Biden , who served as vice president along former President Barack Obama when the law was passed, said in a statement that the ACA was "more popular than ever" due to the changes.

"We lowered costs for ACA coverage by an average of $800 per year for millions of Americans, invested in outreach and in-person assistance to help people get the coverage that is right for them, and eliminated red tape," Biden said.