Which of the following was the most controversial element of the Affordable Care Act ACA?

Asked by: Dr. Megane Reinger IV  |  Last update: August 5, 2025
Score: 4.9/5 (53 votes)

Final answer: The most controversial aspect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the individual mandate, which required individuals to purchase health insurance or face a penalty. Critics viewed this as an infringement on personal freedoms and it sparked legal challenges that reached the Supreme Court.

What is a controversial provision of the Affordable Care Act?

Individual mandate. The most legally and politically controversial aspect of the ACA, the individual mandate requires Americans to purchase health insurance or face a government penalty, with some exceptions—particularly for low-income individuals who cannot afford to buy insurance [3].

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 was a controversial provision of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate?

A vital but controversial provision of the ACA requires individuals to maintain health insurance coverage or face a tax penalty—the individual mandate. We examine the constitutionality of the individual mandate by analyzing relevant court decisions.

What makes the Ppaca controversial quizlet?

What makes the PPACA controversial? The program remains controversial because some people do not think the government has the right to require health insurance. Others say that the law does not go far enough in guaranteeing health care for all. What major event occurred in May 2011?

Here's Why the Affordable Care Act Is So Controversial | History

39 related questions found

Which of the following was the most controversial element of the Affordable Care Act?

The most controversial element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is widely considered to be the individual mandate, which required all individuals who do not receive health insurance through their employer or a government program to have health insurance or face a penalty.

What is the most controversial provision in the Affordable Care Act that has led to Supreme Court challenges?

The heart of the ACA — and its most controversial provision — is the individual mandate. This provision requires individuals to obtain health insurance or pay the aforementioned penalty. The government advanced two primary theories supporting the individual mandate's constitutionality.

What does the ACA law restrict?

The ACA also prohibits annual and lifetime limits on the dollar amount of coverage and restricts the amount of out-of-pocket costs individuals and families may incur each year for in-network care. Additionally, the law requires most health plans to cover preventive health services with no out-of-pocket costs.

What are the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Quizlet?

The four major components of the ACA are expanding Medicaid, preventing insurance companies from denying or increasing the cost of coverage to sick people, requiring all Americans to have health insurance, and requiring large companies to provide health insurance to employees.

How does the ACA affect women's health care?

Under the ACA, most private health insurers must provide coverage of women's preventive health care—such as mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer, prenatal care, and other services—with no cost sharing.

Which problem was the Affordable Care Act designed to address quizlet?

Final answer:

The Affordable Care Act was designed to decrease the number of Americans without health insurance, lower the costs of healthcare, and make access to healthcare more equitable.

What was the problem before the Affordable Care Act?

Before the ACA, individual insurance plans were considered to pose a high risk to insurers because people who had higher expected utilization were more likely to sign up for health insurance, and this would result in severe adverse selection.

What are the three biggest issues in healthcare today?

So, let's hop on a journey to explore the 7 biggest challenges of the healthcare industry!
  • Rising Costs of Healthcare Services.
  • Financial Challenges for Providers.
  • Shortage of Healthcare Professionals.
  • The Need for Improved Mental Health Systems.
  • Increased Demand for Personalized Care.
  • Big Data and Cybersecurity Issues.

What was the main idea of the Affordable Care Act?

About the Affordable Care Act

Make affordable health insurance available to more people. 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).

What is the challenge to the Affordable Care Act?

In California, after determining the individual plaintiffs had standing to bring the case, the district court considered the merits of their challenge and ruled that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and the rest of the Act's provisions were not severable.

What are ethical issues with the Affordable Care Act?

The recently enacted Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 has fueled ethical debate of several important controversial topics. Ethical issues of health care reform include moral foundations, cost containment, public health, access to care, ED crowding, and end-of-life issues.

What are the most important elements of the Affordable Care Act?

The law has 3 primary goals:
  • 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 is not included in the Affordable Care Act?

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 major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?

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. In fact, insurance rates cannot be based on gender or gender identity at all.

What is prohibited by the Affordable Care Act?

Section 1557 makes it unlawful for any health care provider who receives funding from the federal government to refuse to treat an individual—or to otherwise discriminate against the individual—based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.

What are the rules for discrimination in the ACA?

The final rule prohibits insurers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. This prohibition applies to all health insurance issuers that are recipients of Federal financial assistance, which includes Medicare Parts C and D payments, as well as state Medicaid agencies.

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) ...

Which provision of the healthcare act was particularly controversial?

Final answer: The most controversial provision of the 2010 healthcare act was the individual mandate, which mandated all Americans to have health insurance or face a penalty. This provision sparked significant debate over governmental authority and individual rights.

What is the ACA individual mandate?

The individual mandate was a provision within the ACA that required individuals to purchase what's known as "minimum essential coverage" or face a tax penalty, unless they were eligible for an exemption. Mandate supporters argued that a penalty would increase the number of people who had health insurance.