Question

3. From the standpoint of health insurance, what were the main accomplishments of the Affordable Care Act?

Answer 1

Among African American adults, the uninsured rate declined by 53 percent (11.8 percentage points) since 2013, resulting in 3 million people gaining coverage.
Among Latino adults, the uninsured rate dropped by 27 percent (11.3 percentage points) since 2013, resulting in 4 million people gaining coverage.
The gains for women have been particularly rapid: the reduction in the uninsured rate since 2013 has been 13 percent larger than the reduction for men.
Among young adults, the uninsured rate has dropped by 47 percent (12.1 percentage points) since 2013. Together with pre-2013 gains due to young adults’ option to remain on a parent’s plan, 6.1 million young adults have gained coverage.
Prohibits coverage denials and reduced benefits, protecting as many as 129 million Americans who have some type of pre-existing health condition, including up to 19 million children.
Eliminates lifetime and annual limits on insurance coverage and establishes annual limits on out-of-pocket spending on essential health benefits, benefiting 105 million Americans, including 39.5 million women and nearly 28 million children.
Expands Medicaid to all non-eligible adults with incomes under 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In the states that have already expanded Medicaid, 4.4 million uninsured people will gain coverage. If the remaining states expand Medicaid, over 4 million more uninsured people would gain coverage.
Establishes a system of state and federal Health Insurance Exchanges, or Marketplaces, to make it easier for individuals and small-business employees to purchase health plans at affordable prices. During the most recent open enrollment, 12.7 million people selected a plan through the Marketplace, and more than 400,000 people signed up for Basic Health Programs, state-based programs supported by the Affordable Care Act which provide health insurance coverage to low-income individuals who would generally otherwise be eligible to buy qualified health plans on the Marketplace.
Created a temporary high-risk pool program to cover uninsured people with pre-existing conditions prior to 2014 reforms which helped more than 130,000 people.
Creates health plan disclosure requirements and simple, standardized summaries so over 170 million Americans can better understand coverage information and compare benefits.
After Health Reform: More Affordable Care

Creates a tax credit that, during the most recent open enrollment period, has helped about 10.5 million Americans who otherwise might not be able to afford it sign up for health coverage through Health Insurance Marketplace.
Requires health insurers to provide consumers with rebates if the amount they spend on health benefits and quality of care, as opposed to advertising and marketing, is too low. Last year, 5.5 million consumers received nearly $470 million in rebates. Since this requirement was put in place in 2011 through 2014, more than $2.4 billion in total refunds will have been paid to consumers.