The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ushered in major changes to the health care system. It changed the way insurance is priced, how people get insurance, and the quality of care available.
The law expanded Medicaid eligibility, allowing poor people to receive health care. It also increased coverage through marketplaces and provided tax credits to low-income people buying private plans.
Costs
During the first 10 years of the affordable care act’s implementation, the costs associated with health insurance have risen at a far more modest rate than in previous decades. This is partly because of the law’s many policy innovations, which include a reformed health-insurance market and tax credits that can help people pay for their coverage if their income puts them at poverty level.
The ACA also requires insurance companies to spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on medical care and quality improvements rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives. It also makes insurance companies accountable to their customers for how they spend premium dollars and how they raise rates.
In addition, the ACA makes direct public health investments in community-based prevention programs and research. These efforts will help reduce disparities in health coverage, improve access to effective clinical preventive services and lower the growth in health spending.
Enrollment
Enrollment is the process of choosing a health insurance plan through an exchange, which many states run. It involves filling out an application, comparing plans, and paying any required premiums.
The ACA provides protections for people with pre-existing conditions and helps protect consumers from abusive practices by insurance companies, such as charging more because of a health condition or denying coverage altogether.
In addition, the ACA expanded Medicaid to include more low-income individuals and families and introduced new methods for reducing costs and improving quality.
The ACA also requires most people to have some kind of health insurance or pay a fine. The fine is $95 per individual in 2014 and goes up each year until it reaches $695 or 2.5% of the person’s annual income, whichever is higher.
Outcomes
One of the ACA’s main goals is to help ensure that everyone has access to affordable health insurance. To do this, the law offers tax credits to lower-income individuals and families to help them purchase coverage.
The ACA also holds private insurance companies accountable for charging fair premiums, whether for individual market policies or employer-sponsored coverage. It bans lifetime and most annual dollar coverage caps, prohibits preexisting condition exclusions and requires insurers to submit rate reviews to state regulators.
Another key aspect of the ACA is to require that insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollars on medical care and quality improvements, rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives. Under the ACA’s 80/20 rule, insurers are required to give you a rebate if they don’t meet this requirement.
The ACA has made it easier for people to afford health insurance, and improved the quality of health care. The data shows that, as a result, more Americans have health insurance than ever before, and the uninsured rate has dropped to an all-time low.
Policy
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes health insurance more accessible for the poor and improves access to medical care. It also brings down costs by requiring insurance companies to spend at least 80% of premiums on health care rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives.
The law also creates tax credits and online marketplaces to help people buy coverage. The ACA has also made it illegal to discriminate against anyone with a pre-existing condition.
Medicaid expansion: Expanding Medicaid to include people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level has reduced health disparities and resulted in 19,200 fewer deaths among older low-income adults from 2013 to 2017; 15,600 preventable deaths occurred in states that did not expand the program [4].
Value for your premium dollar: Thanks to the ACA’s 80/20 rule, if an insurer doesn’t spend at least 80% of your premium dollars on medical care and quality improvements, it must provide you with a refund. Consumers have received over $2 billion in rebates so far.
