What is mandated in the ACA?

Asked by: Stewart Moen  |  Last update: November 24, 2025
Score: 4.5/5 (49 votes)

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) had an individual mandate that required consumers nationwide to have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty. Advocates argued that the mandate helped to control health insurance costs.

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) ...

What is required by 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.

What is the ACA employer mandate in 2024?

Employer mandate requirements

Coverage is considered "affordable" if employee contributions for employee-only coverage do not exceed a certain percentage of an employee's household income (8.39% in 2024 and 9.02% in 2025).

What are ACA mandated preventive drugs?

ACA Preventive Drug categories include the following: Aspirin, Bowel Preparation, Breast Cancer Primary Prevention, Contraceptives, Fluoride, Folic Acid Supplements, HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Iron Supplements, Single Agent Statins, Tobacco Cessation, and Vaccines.

How Obamacare's individual mandate works

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What does the ACA mandate?

The individual mandate is a provision within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that required individuals to purchase minimum essential coverage – or face a tax penalty – unless they were eligible for an exemption.

What drugs are considered preventive?

  • ASTHMA/COPD. ACCOLATE (zafirlukast) ADVAIR DISKUS† ADVAIR HFA† AEROSPAN† ...
  • BONE DISEASE AND FRACTURES. ACTONEL†, ATELVIA† (risedronate) BONIVA† (ibandronate) DUAVEE. ...
  • CAVITIES. CLINPRO. GEL-KAM. PHOS-FLUR. ...
  • COLONOSCOPY PREPARATION* CLENPIQ. COLYTE, GOLYTELY, NULYTELY. (polyethylene glycol) ...
  • DIABETES. INSULINS. AFREZZA. BASAGLAR.

What is the ACA 30 hour rule?

If an employee is credited with an average of 30 hours per week or more during the Standard Measurement Period, the employee would be eligible for benefits for the upcoming plan year.

Is the ACA mandate still in effect?

While the ACA individual mandate is no longer in effect, certain states apply their own health insurance mandates, some of which have financial penalties.

What is the ACA maximum out-of-pocket for 2024?

For the 2024 plan year: The out-of-pocket limit for a Marketplace plan can't be more than $9,450 for an individual and $18,900 for a family.

What does the Affordable Care Act not cover?

What Benefits Does the Affordable Care Act Not Cover? The Affordable Care Act does leave two forms of insurance for adults out of its provisions — vision insurance and dental coverage. Although both of these services are considered essential benefits for children under the ACA, they are not included for adults.

What are the 10 essential health benefits of the ACA?

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 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.

Which five benefits are mandated by law?

Medicare and social security, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, health insurance, and family and medical leave are all benefits that the federal government requires businesses to provide.

What are the ACA minimum requirements?

An employer-sponsored plan provides minimum value if it covers at least 60 percent of the total allowed cost of benefits that are expected to be incurred under the plan.

What is the ACA mandate?

If someone who can afford coverage does not purchase it, they may have to pay a tax penalty. This is called the shared responsibility payment and sometimes also called the "individual mandate." Some people may qualify for an exemption, but you can find more details about this by visiting Healthcare.gov.

Can you be denied medical treatment without insurance?

Because of EMTALA, you can't be denied a medical screening exam or treatment for an emergency medical condition based on: If you have health insurance or not. If you can pay for treatment.

What is a lifetime limit?

A cap on the total lifetime benefits you may get from your insurance company.

What is the 80 20 rule for ACA?

The 80/20 Rule generally requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of the money they take in from premiums on health care costs and quality improvement activities. The other 20% can go to administrative, overhead, and marketing costs.

Can I refuse health insurance from my employer and get Obamacare?

Obamacare is available to everyone, whether or not their employers offer insurance. From a practical standpoint, though, there are financial consequences to doing this. Often, an employer subsidizes part or all of their employees' coverage.

What is the 3 month rule for ACA?

The ACA employer mandate rules permit a “limited non-assessment period” as a sort of grace period before which employers will be penalized for failure to offer coverage to a new hire. For new full-time hires, the duration of this period is relatively short (the first three full calendar months of employment).

What drugs are free under ACA?

These medicines include:
  • low-dose aspirin.
  • breast cancer prevention medicines.
  • fluoride.
  • folic acid.
  • iron supplements.
  • statins.
  • smoking cessation medicines.
  • vaccines.

Is blood pressure medication considered preventive?

Preventive medications are those used for the prevention of conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, osteoporosis, heart attack, stroke and prenatal nutrient deficiency. Refer to your plan materials to determine if your plan includes a preventive medication coverage feature.

Is metformin a preventive drug?

Metformin may delay the onset of diabetes or even prevent it among people with prediabetes.