
The Affordable Care Act has significantly improved the health of millions of Americans by making insurance more accessible and providing safeguards against abusive practices by insurance companies. It will continue to bring about improvements in millions more lives around the country.
In the past, insurance companies could deny coverage if you became sick or charge more because of a pre-existing condition. Nowadays, these abusive practices have been outlawed.
Health Insurance
How have you or someone you know benefited from the Affordable Care Act?
Millions of Americans now enjoy coverage that provides preventive care and prescription drugs at no cost. High-quality health insurance has been shown to improve both individual’s and country’s health, reduce overall healthcare spending, and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in accessing care.
Preventive care, also referred to as primary care, refers to health services that address health problems before they become serious or life-threatening. This could include screening for breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease as well as providing prevention services for children such as immunizations.
Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most private health insurance plans must cover preventive services without cost-sharing. These services help patients stay healthy by preventing or treating conditions at an early stage and provide free access to preventive healthcare at no cost. In addition, Medicare requires free preventive services like a health risk assessment and annual wellness visit for everyone at no additional charge.
Preventive Care
Preventive care is any medical service that helps shield patients against or reduces the likelihood of health emergencies. Not only does this keep costs down, but it can also prevent many diseases and injuries.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes preventive services free or without cost-sharing for 137 million Americans with private coverage. This means you can access recommended screenings like cancer and diabetes screenings without having to pay a copay or deductible.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) also expanded access to Medicaid. For people whose incomes fall below 138% of the federal poverty level in states that offer Medicaid expansion, SS2713 adult preventive services are covered at no cost.
However, some low-income adults eligible before the Medicaid expansion may still face difficulty accessing preventive services under ACA rules. They may lack resources to choose the most qualified doctors or seek treatment outside their health plan’s network. Furthermore, their state may decide whether cost sharing for such services is required.
Pre-Existing Condition Discrimination
The Affordable Care Act guarantees protection to individuals with pre-existing conditions, safeguarding them against being denied insurance coverage, charged more premiums or excluded from benefits due to their medical history. This is essential as it helps shield people financially from ruin.
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, health insurers often turned down applicants or charged higher premiums based on their medical history. In some cases, insurers even retroactively cancelled people’s policies if they failed to disclose any pre-existing conditions when purchasing their policies.
Insurers frequently employ high or variable cost-sharing requirements and restrictive utilization controls to dissuade those with expensive medical needs from purchasing their plans. These practices discriminate against those facing high medical bills and could pose a barrier to accessing affordable health insurance, particularly for low-income Americans.
In addition to prohibiting coverage discrimination, the affordable care act contains four essential consumer safeguards that guarantee Americans with preexisting conditions access quality health insurance. These include guaranteed issue, adjusted community rating, prohibition against preexisting condition exclusions and essential health benefit requirements.
Young Adults
The Affordable Care Act has given millions of young adults coverage they didn’t have before. It allows them to remain on their parents’ health plan until age 26 while guaranteeing no one is denied healthcare due to a pre-existing condition.
The Affordable Care Act has also expanded Medicaid eligibility to more families, and most states have implemented premium tax credits for low-income consumers who cannot afford their own health coverage. This has reduced costs and made essential procedures and medications accessible to those who need them most.
Marginalized1 young adults–those born into poverty, those in foster care, those who have dropped out of school, those with disabilities and those raising children in single parent homes–face more obstacles than other young adults when it comes to navigating social and economic pathways that lead to adulthood. Policies and programs that better understand their specific needs will eliminate disparities. Furthermore, more equitable resource allocation across all sectors will promote equality of opportunity and allow more marginalized young adults to fully take on adult responsibilities such as workers, parents or citizens.