What are the three benefits of the ACA?

Asked by: Adah Ryan  |  Last update: October 1, 2025
Score: 4.9/5 (52 votes)

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.

What are the 3 purposes of the ACA?

The ACA has three primary goals at its foundation, collectively known as the Triple Aim. The Triple Aim goals are: improve patient care, improve population health, and reduce the cost of health care.

In which 3 ways did the Affordable Care Act affect individuals?

How does health care reform affect me?
  • If you get sick, an insurance company cannot cancel your policy.
  • Health insurance companies cannot turn down your application because of your health status.
  • Women can no longer be charged more for insurance than men.

What are ACA essential benefits?

The Affordable Care Act requires non-grandfathered health insurance coverage in the individual and small group markets to cover essential health benefits (EHB), which include items and services in at least the following ten benefit categories: (1) ambulatory patient services; (2) emergency services; (3) hospitalization ...

What are 5 mandated benefits under the ACA?

The 10 categories of benefits in an EHB package are: 1) ambulatory patient services, 2) emergency services, 3) hospitalization, 4) maternity and newborn care, 5) mental health and substance use disorder services, 6) prescription drugs, 7) rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, 8) lab services, 9) ...

ACA 101: A Comprehensive Guide to the Affordable Care Act

18 related questions found

What is an ACA qualified benefit?

An insurance plan that's certified by the Health Insurance Marketplace ®, provides essential health benefits, follows established limits on cost-sharing (like deductibles, copayments, and out-of-pocket maximum amounts), and meets other requirements under the Affordable Care Act.

Who benefited the most from the ACA?

The biggest winners from the law include people between the ages of 18 and 34; blacks; Hispanics; and people who live in rural areas.

What groups benefit from the ACA?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made new health insurance options available to uninsured individuals in low- and middle-income households, a group in which Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented.

What is the biggest problem with the Affordable Care Act?

Impact on Individual Insurance

It was also known that consumers would face a very different health insurance world under the ACA, with some people seeing their premiums go down and some seeing them go up, and the majority of Americans seeing higher deductibles, higher copays, and a smaller pool of providers.

What are the cons of Obamacare?

Cons:
  • The cost has not decreased for everyone. Those who do not qualify for subsidies may find marketplace health insurance plans unaffordable. ...
  • Loss of company-sponsored health plans. ...
  • Tax penalties. ...
  • Shrinking networks. ...
  • Shopping for coverage can be complicated.

How does ACA improve access to healthcare?

The ACA uses two primary approaches to increase access to health insurance: It expands access to Medicaid, based solely on income, for those with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL), and creates eligibility for those with incomes from 139% to 400% FPL to apply for subsidies [in the form of advance ...

Who is not eligible for Obamacare?

Must live in the United States. Must be a U.S. citizen or national (or be lawfully present). Learn about eligible immigration statuses. Cannot be incarcerated in prison or jail.

What are 3 provisions of the Affordable Care Act?

Affordable Care Act (ACA)
  • Make affordable health insurance available to more people. ...
  • Expand Medicaid to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. ...
  • Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.

What are the three pillars of ACA?

1 The 3 pillars of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): access, quality, and cost.

How much is Obamacare a month for a single person?

Monthly premiums for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans vary by state and can be reduced by premium tax credits. The average national monthly health insurance cost for one person on an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan without premium tax credits in 2024 is $477.

What are some benefits of the ACA?

A set of 10 categories of services health insurance plans must cover under the Affordable Care Act. These include doctors' services, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, prescription drug coverage, pregnancy and childbirth, mental health services, and more. Some plans cover more services.

What race is the most uninsured?

Uninsured rates are higher among Latino, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN), Black, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) people than among Asian, white, and multiracial people.

Why Democrats support ACA?

Democrats believe that quality, affordable health care is a right – not a privilege – for every American.

Who does not benefit from the Affordable Care Act?

Individuals with incomes exceeding 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL; $46,680 for an individual, $95,400 for a family of four) are ineligible for either Medicaid or Marketplace tax credits. This group represents 16 percent of the ineligible, uninsured population. 2.

Who is the largest ACA insurer?

Standing as the largest insurer in the country, UnitedHealthcare provides coverage to approximately 29 million Americans.

How does the ACA help the poor?

Health insurance is expensive and can be difficult to afford for people with lower or moderate incomes. In response, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides sliding-scale subsidies that lower premiums and insurers offer plans with reduced out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for eligible individuals.

What is the highest income to qualify for ACA?

In 2025, you'll typically be eligible for ACA subsidies if you earn between $15,060 and $60,240 as a single person. A family of four is eligible with a household income between $31,200 and $124,800.

What is the 9.5 rule in Obamacare?

The 9.5% threshold for health insurance costs

The Health Reform bill established 9.5% as the amount of income used for health insurance beyond which, it would not be an affordable. This means that if you make $40K annually, the bill subsidizes health insurance premiums beyond just short of $4K.

What is the 13 week rule for the Affordable Care Act?

Classifying Rehires under the ACA

An employee will be considered to be a terminated and rehired employee if the employee has a period of 13 consecutive weeks during which the employee is not credited with an hour of service.