ObamaCare Info

History of ObamaCare

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is often referred to as either the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, was signed into law on March 23, 2010. This healthcare act derives its nickname from President Barack Obama's surname.

The law met with some opposition. However, its constitutionality was upheld by the Supreme Court in a decision issued on June 28, 2012.

What is ObamaCare?

The focus of the law is to expand access to affordable health insurance coverage. It does this by implementing consumer protections, subsidies, taxes and other measures.

The Affordable Care Act seeks to protect Americans from bad insurance practices. It does not, however, replace private insurance or government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.

What it does do is offer Americans new benefits. For instance, young adults may now stay on their parents' insurance until age 26. It also eliminates lifetime and annual limits on coverage. Health insurers also can no longer drop coverage on people simply due to illness. Another significant step that ObamaCare takes is requiring that insurance companies cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.

What all of this translates into is vastly expanded access to health insurance. Millions of Americans who previously could not get health care coverage now can thanks to ObamaCare.

These new benefits, rights and protections provided to the American consumer also include a requirement that preventive services be covered. This applies to all non-grandfathered health insurance plans.

Also required of all non-grandfathered plans are ten essential health benefits. Now, things such as emergency care, maternity, hospitalization and prescription drugs must be included, and there cannot be annual or lifetime dollar limits on these things.

Plans that are not grandfathered must also include free preventive services. These include health-maintaining services such as yearly check-ups and immunizations. This is part of the Affordable Care Act's goal of reducing overall healthcare costs.

Americans have already seen many of the provisions in ObamaCare enacted. The remainder will be implemented over coming years with full enactment expected to be achieved in 2022.

You can compare your health insurance options right now. Get your free, no-obligation quotes to find the plan that’s best for you.

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