What Is the ACA?

The ACA

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a health care reform law enacted in 2010. The ACA has four

primary goals:

1. To expand access to health insurance: The ACA expanded Medicaid eligibility and created health insurance exchanges, where individuals and small businesses can purchase health insurance. The ACA also prohibits insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

2. To make health insurance more affordable: The ACA provides subsidies to help low- and middle-income individuals and families purchase health insurance. The ACA also limits how much insurers can charge people for health insurance based on their age, gender, and health status.

3. To improve the quality of health care: The ACA has a number of provisions aimed at improving the quality of health care, such as requiring health plans to cover preventive services, prohibiting insurers from imposing annual or lifetime limits on coverage, and establishing new quality standards for hospitals and other health care providers.

4. To reduce health care costs: The ACA has a number of provisions aimed at reducing health care costs, such as creating new programs to coordinate care for patients with chronic conditions, expanding the use of electronic health records, and promoting the use of generic drugs.