User:BellaT3314
The Affordable Care Act
[edit]Overview & History
[edit] | This user is a student editor in Gordon_State_College/1101_American_Government_(Fall_2024). |
The Affordable Care Act, which is commonly known as Obamacare[1], is a healthcare reform law that aims at reducing the cost of health insurance and healthcare in general for citizens of the United States who are not covered by Medicare[2] or Medicaid[3]. The act to make affordable health insurance healthcare more available to people, expand Medicaid, and lower health costs. Some resources available as a result of the policy are Medicaid expansion[4], substance abuse and mental health treatment[5], health insurance marketplace[6], and preventative services at no additional cost[7].
The Affordable Care Act (ACA)[8], also known as Obamacare, was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The goals of the act are to improve the quality and affordability of health insurance, expand Medicaid coverage, and reduce the number of uninsured Americans. The bill was first introduced under the title, “Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009,” by representative Charles Rangel. The original act was designed to support home ownership for veterans. The bill underwent a significant transformation during the legislative process, towards healthcare reform. When it was passed to the Senate, on December 4, 2009, the name was changed to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” The new title emphasized the protection of patients' rights to healthcare.
After passing the House and Senate on March 21, 2010, the final signing of the bill into law by President Barack Obama was two days later. A Congressional Research Service report from January 9, 2017, detailed ongoing legislative actions to repeal, defund, or delay the ACA. For example, in October 2013, there was a partial government shutdown over a dispute between the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-led House, centered around the ACA provisions in the temporary spending bill.
The political battle continued after Republicans gained control of the House in 2011, with a vote to repeal the ACA[9] through the “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act,” which passed the House. Despite passing the House, the repeal was rejected in the Senate, and President Obama indicated he would veto it if it reached his desk. There were other attempts to repeal the act with another vote in the House, but the Supreme Court upheld the ACA as constitutional in 2012.
Related policies include the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid expansion, along with lots of other policies that help low-income families with the expenses of healthcare.
How did the ACA Affect Medicare and Medicaid? 
[edit]The Affordable Care Act significantly impacted Medicare and Medicaid by expanding access, improving coverage, and promoting cost control measures.
Affordable Care Act plans are usually offered by private health insurance companies which results in Medicare costing the average citizens less. The ACA eliminated cost-sharing, such as deductibles and copayments for many preventative services such as certain disease and cancer screenings and also made annual wellness and health visits zero cost. The ACA also reduced prescription drug coverage by closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap, also known as the “Donut Hole.” Beneficiaries would pay for a smaller portion of drug costs in the coverage gap (Donut Hole) every year, until it closed in 2020.
The Affordable Care Act has a Medicaid expansion section that expanded Medicaid coverage to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level. This expanded healthcare access to millions of previously ineligible citizens. The ACA was originally intended for nationwide use, however a 2012 Supreme Court Ruling decided to make it optional for states, and as of 2024, most states have chosen to expand Medicaid. Originally, the federal government funded 100% of the costs of the newly eligible population from 2014 to 2016. The federal funding still remains high which causes many states to adopt the expansion as a result of the federal government funding 90% of the costs for individuals as of 2020.
How Did The ACA Affect Public Health Initiatives
[edit]The Affordable Care Act created preventative care services, and created insurance policies that reduced healthcare finances.
Prevention and Public Health Fund
The Affordable Care Act influenced over 100 Preventative Care Services[12] to be more accessible to the average person. Some of the ACA rules for the preventative services include coverage for vaccines, and no out of pocket costs. The preventative services also include screenings for blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, sexually transmitted disease, cholesterol, vaccinations, depression, and substance abuse.
Health Insurance Marketplaces
The Affordable Care Act allowed more people the opportunity to healthcare by creating health insurance marketplaces with federal finances that reduced/eliminated premiums and deductibles. More than 40 million people are currently enrolled in the Health Insurance Marketplaces[13].
- ^ "Affordable Care Act Insurance | HealthInsuranceUSA.org". www.healthinsuranceusa.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Parts of Medicare | Medicare". www.medicare.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "What is Medicaid and what does it cover?". www.uhc.com. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Medicaid Expansion: Frequently Asked Questions | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities". www.cbpp.org. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Affordable Care Act Expands Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Benefits and Federal Parity Protections for 62 Million Americans". ASPE. 2013-02-19. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Affordable Health Insurance | FirstQuote Health Georgia". georgiahealthcoverage.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Preventive health services". HealthCare.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "The Affordable Care Act 101". KFF. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act", Wikipedia, 2024-11-09, retrieved 2024-12-02
- ^ mshepard (2020-01-10). "The Affordable Care Act Strengthens Medicare & Health Care". Center for Medicare Advocacy. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Status of State Medicaid Expansion Decisions". KFF. 2024-11-12. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "How the Affordable Care Act Improved Access to Preventive Health Services". Center for American Progress. 2024-07-10. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
- ^ "Entering Their Second Decade, Affordable Care Act Coverage Expansions Have Helped Millions, Provide the Basis for Further Progress | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities". www.cbpp.org. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-12-02.