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President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act
Affordable Care Act (also referred to as the ACA), the major health care reform bill passed into law on March 23, 2010 -
Consumers are Able to Access Information.
Consumers can compare health insurance coverage options and pick the coverage that works for them. -
Unable to Deny Coverage
The health care law includes new rules to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to children under the age of 19 due to pre-existing conditions. -
Prescription Drug Discounts
Seniors who reach the coverage gap will receive a 50% discount when buying Medicare Part D covered brand-name prescription drugs. Over the next ten years, seniors will receive additional savings on brand-name and generic drugs until the coverage gap is closed in 2020. -
Increased Access to Services at Home
The Community First Choice Option allows states to offer home and community based services to disabled individuals through Medicaid rather than institutional care in nursing homes. -
Linking Payment to Quality Outcomes
The law establishes a hospital Value-Based Purchasing program (VBP) in Traditional Medicare. This program offers financial incentives to hospitals to improve the quality of care. Hospital performance is required to be publicly reported, beginning with measures relating to heart attacks, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care, health-care associated infections, and patients’ perception of care. -
Improving Preventive Health Coverage
To expand the number of Americans receiving preventive care, the law provides new funding to state Medicaid programs that choose to cover preventive services for patients at little or no cost. -
Open Enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace Begins
Individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans in this new transparent and competitive insurance marketplace -
Prohibiting Discrimination Due to Pre-Existing Conditions or Gender
The law implements strong reforms that prohibit insurance companies from refusing to sell coverage or renew policies because of an individual’s pre-existing conditions. Also, in the individual and small group market, the law eliminates the ability of insurance companies to charge higher rates due to gender or health status. -
Increasing Access to Medicaid
Americans who earn less than 133% of the poverty level will be eligible to enroll in Medicaid. -
Promoting Individual Responsibility
Under the law, most individuals who can afford it will be required to obtain basic health insurance coverage or pay a fee to help offset the costs of caring for uninsured Americans. If affordable coverage is not available to an individual, he or she will be eligible for an exemption. -
Paying Physicians Based on Value Not Volume
A new provision will tie physician payments to the quality of care they provide. Physicians will see their payments modified so that those who provide higher value care will receive higher payments than those who provide lower quality care.
