What benefits does the Affordable Care Act provide?

Asked by: Iva Donnelly III  |  Last update: October 24, 2023
Score: 4.3/5 (36 votes)

… consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL)

What benefits are in the Affordable Care Act?

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 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.

Who benefits most from Obamacare?

2020). The coverage gains under the ACA made it easier for people to get health care. Adults with low income have benefited the most from the law's insurance subsidies, out-of-pocket cost protections, and expansion in Medicaid eligibility.

What are three benefits of the Affordable Care Act quizlet?

Match
  • extending insurance coverage to the uninsured/underinsured.
  • decreasing costs by improving efficiency.
  • expanding prevention and wellness programs (PH measures)
  • protecting against undue financial burdens on individuals as a result of healthcare expenditures.
  • improving patient safety and quality of care.

The Benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): How It's Making Healthcare Affordable

43 related questions found

What are the two main parts of the Affordable Care Act?

The law has 2 parts: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act.

What are some of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act quizlet?

Affordable Care Act Provisions Include:
  • Individual mandate.
  • health insurance reforms.
  • Essential Health benefits.
  • Affordable insurance exchanges.
  • Premium Credits to Eligible Individuals and Families.
  • Employer Requirements.
  • Premium Subsidiaries to Small Employers.
  • Early retirement reinsurance program.

What is the main purpose of the Affordable Care Act?

The intent of the ACA is to reform how insurance and health systems work to ultimately improve health care access, quality, and individual and public cost.

What are the problems with the Affordable Care Act?

The ACA is an extremely expensive program. In 2019, the cost of the ACA's Medicaid coverage provisions amounted to roughly $130 billion—$50 billion on exchange subsidies and $80 billion on Medicaid expansion. This spending has been a boon to health insurance companies, whose stock prices soared.

What is the greatest of three Affordable Care Act?

This rule essentially says that for out-of-network emergency services, self-funded health plans must allow claims at the greatest of (1) 100% of Medicare, (2) the amount the plan would allow for non-emergent out-of-network claims (in other words, Usual and Customary, Maximum Allowable Charge, etc.), or (3) the median ...

What is a major feature of the Affordable Care Act?

The Marketplace allows individuals and small businesses to compare health plans on a level playing field. Middle- and low-income families will get tax credits that cover a significant portion of the cost of coverage. The Medicaid program will be expanded to cover more low-income Americans.

What is one requirement of the Affordable Care Act?

One provision contained in the law is known as the “individual mandate” which requires that all Americans (regardless of age) be covered by health insurance (through a group or individual plan) or pay an annual financial penalty assessed by the Internal Revenue Service, unless waived under certain limited circumstances ...

How does the Affordable Care Act help the uninsured?

The ACA sought to address the gaps in our health care system that left millions of people without health insurance by extending Medicaid coverage to many low-income individuals and providing subsidies for Marketplace coverage for individuals below 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL).

Is the Affordable Care Act good for the economy?

In reviewing evidence over the past five years, this report concludes that the ACA has had no net negative economic impact and, in fact, has likely helped to stimulate growth by contributing to the slower rise in health care costs.

Is Affordable Care Act based on income?

Under the Affordable Care Act, eligibility for subsidized health insurance is calculated using a household's Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI). You are expected to pay a premium contribution limit (a percentage of your annual income) for healthcare coverage.

What are two major benefits of the Affordable Care Act?

The law has 3 primary goals:
  • Make affordable health insurance available to more people. ...
  • Expand the Medicaid program 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.

Does the Affordable Care Act penalize you for not having health insurance?

The ACA's individual mandate penalty, which used to be collected by the IRS on federal tax returns, was reduced to $0 after the end of 2018. In most states, people who have been uninsured since 2019 are no longer assessed a penalty.

Why are Affordable Care Act plans so expensive?

Health insurance obeys the same economic laws as other products: barriers to entry lead to insufficient competition, fewer choices and higher prices. “Insurance premiums … respond strongly to competition, and markets with more insurers have substantially lower premiums,” economist Martin Gaynor wrote in 2020.

What happens to the ACA subsidy when one person goes on Medicare?

You are not required to cancel your exchange plan when you enroll in Medicare, but if you're getting premium subsidies, they'll end when you become eligible for premium-free Medicare (with some flexibility in terms of the exact date for this, as described below).

Why is the ACA so controversial?

One early controversy concerned whether individuals would lose their current health plans when the new law took effect. Initially, some insured people were taken by surprise when their insurers canceled policies that did not qualify as minimum essential coverage (MEC) under the ACA.

What is the ACA affordability?

The W-2 Safe Harbor is a method for proving ACA affordability that involves the use of an employee's W-2 Box 1, gross income. To calculate ACA affordability using the W-2 Safe Harbor, use the following formula: W-2 Box 1 Wages multiplied by 9.12% with an adjustment for partial year coverage.

Has the Affordable Care Act helped people?

The ACA has reduced the number of uninsured people to historically low levels and helped more people access health care services, especially low-income people and people of color.

What were the two main goals of the Affordable Care Act ACA with respect to health insurance?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has two main goals: (1) to make health care coverage more available, affordable, and acceptable and (2) to slow the growth of health care costs in the U.S.

How does the 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 ...