Did the Affordable Care Act save lives?

Asked by: Bria Medhurst  |  Last update: August 18, 2023
Score: 4.9/5 (50 votes)

We find a reduction in all-cause mortality in ages 20 to 64 equaling 11.36 deaths per 100,000 individuals, a 3.6 percent decrease. This estimate is largely driven by reductions in causes of death likely to be influenced by access to health care, and equates to one life saved per 310 newly covered individuals.

Has the Affordable Care Act been beneficial?

Since its enactment on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act has led to an historic advancement of health equity in the United States. This landmark law improved the health of all Americans, including women and families, kids, older adults, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ and communities of color.

How has Affordable Care Act helped?

More than 20 million people have gained coverage as a result of the ACA. It has dramatically reduced the uninsured rate. On the day President Obama signed the ACA, 16 percent of Americans were uninsured; in March 2020, it was nine percent.

Has the ACA saved lives?

The Affordable Care Act's (ACA) expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults is preventing thousands of premature deaths each year, a landmark study finds. It saved the lives of at least 19,200 adults aged 55 to 64 over the four-year period from 2014 to 2017.

How much has the Affordable Care Act saved?

The ACA has helped bend the cost curve. But we should not rest on this $650 billion savings success. We can do more. Policymakers have increasingly come to understand that high prices are the biggest contributor to the growth in the cost of health care.

Obamacare Explained: Understanding the Affordable Care Act

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Who benefits most from the Affordable Care Act?

People with the lowest incomes tended to benefit the most from the law. That makes sense, given how the Affordable Care Act is designed. In states that expanded Medicaid, low-income people can get insurance without having to pay a premium.

What did Biden do to the Affordable Care Act?

For his first two years in office, President Biden prioritized the ACA in his legislative agenda. Early in his term, he signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which included a significant increase in premium subsidies for Marketplace enrollees, through 2022.

How many people did the ACA help?

Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced that about 15.9 million people have selected an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace health plan nationwide since the start of the 2023 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP) on November 1.

What are 3 benefits of the Affordable Care Act?

Affordable Care Act (ACA) basics

Among other things, the ACA made it easier for many people to get coverage, removed annual and lifetime limits on essential health benefits and put in place requirements that individuals have medical coverage or pay a tax penalty.

How does the Affordable Care Act impact me?

The ACA enabled people to gain coverage by 1) expanding the publicly funded Medicaid program to cover adults with annual incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level; 2) establishing the Health Insurance Marketplace for individuals and small businesses, allowing them to purchase private health insurance (PHI); and 3 ...

Did Obamacare help the economy?

Recent evidence bolsters the case that health insurance coverage can have important benefits for long-term labor market outcomes. Reduced “job lock”: The Affordable Care Act is improving access to health insurance coverage outside the workplace, reducing “job lock” and improving economic efficiency.

Who opposed the Affordable Care Act?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by a Democratic president in 2010. Republican congressmen, governors, and Republican candidates have consistently opposed the ACA and have vowed to repeal it.

What does the ACA mostly likely to accomplish?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has 3 main objectives: (1) to reform the private insurance market—especially for individuals and small-group purchasers, (2) to expand Medicaid to the working poor with income up to 133% of the federal poverty level, and (3) to change the way that medical decisions ...

Why is affordable healthcare important?

People without coverage are more likely to suffer declines in overall health — the result of little or no preventive care and delays in care that cause more severe problems or hospitalizations.

How has the ACA helped low income families?

Since the ACA's subsidies took effect in 2014, uninsured rates for non-elderly people with incomes between 138 and 400 percent of the poverty line have fallen dramatically, from 19.2 percent in 2013 to 12.5 percent in 2017.

Has Biden improved Affordable Care Act?

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration celebrated the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by highlighting record-breaking enrollment numbers during the 2023 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period and lower health care costs because of President Biden's American Rescue Plan (ARP) and Inflation Reduction Act ( ...

Did Biden lower healthcare costs?

Since the beginning of his Administration, President Biden has passed historic legislation to lower health care costs for tens of millions of Americans, took on Big Pharma to finally allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, and took action to eliminate hidden fees in every sector of the economy.

Does Obamacare help the poor?

The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.

What would happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed?

Across the country, 29.8 million people would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed—more than doubling the number of people without health insurance.

What are the 10 essential benefits of the Affordable Care Act?

Essential health benefits ensure that health plans cover care that patients need
  • Ambulatory patient services (outpatient services)
  • Emergency services.
  • Hospitalization.
  • Maternity and newborn care.
  • Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment.
  • Prescription drugs.

How could the Affordable Care Act improve?

Increase Credits for Moderate- and Middle-Income Families.

Congress should consider either increasing the size and scope of the Advanced Premium Tax Credit program, or adding fixed-dollar, age-adjusted tax credits to the mix to improve access to affordable health insurance for moderate- to middle-income households.

How did the ACA fail to provide access to healthcare for all individuals?

It largely failed. Health insurance markets are only afloat because of massive federal subsidies and premiums and out-of-pocket obligations significantly increased for families. While the ACA has led to about 13 million more people with Medicaid, many more have been harmed.

Why do people think the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional?

United States Department of Health and Human Services declared the law unconstitutional in an action brought by 26 states, on the grounds that the individual mandate to purchase insurance exceeds the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.