Legacy of the Affordable Care Act
This March 23 will mark fourteen years since President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. At this point many of the provisions of the law have become so embedded that we may have begun to forget exactly how huge a step forward for American health care the ACA represented. Let’s take a moment and review some of the major provisions of the law:
Prevented people with preexisting conditions from being denied health insurance or charged more. It also ended price discrimination based on gender.
The creation of the Health Insurance Marketplace. The Marketplace allows consumers buying coverage on their own to shop for available insurance plans in their area. The plans have to disclose their monthly premium costs, co-pays, and out-of-pocket maximums.
Allowing young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance plans until they turn 26. This has resulted in huge cost savings and higher rates of insurance for young adults.
The expansion of Medicaid resulted in an estimated 12 million Americans gaining health insurance. This number would be even larger if some states weren’t still refusing the expansion.
The creation of tax credits to help people afford health insurance. These tax credits are based on preventing people from having to spend more than a certain percentage of their income on health insurance. They were made even more generous by the American Rescue Plan. These expanded credits will expire next year but the Biden administration has proposed extending them.
The lowest rate of uninsured Americans ever. As of early 2023 only 7.7% of Americans are uninsured. That compares to an uninsured rate of over 16% in 2010, before the ACA was passed.
The ACA represented a huge step forward for the American healthcare system. We hope that in coming years we can continue to build on the progress that it made and reach the point where every American has quality, affordable health care.
