Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care: Progress and Promise of the Affordable Care Act and Other Administration Efforts
Today,
Eight years ago, candidate Obama promised that he would make quality, affordable health care not a privilege, but a right. America was one of the last industrialized nations where this wasn't already the case. Tens of millions of Americans couldn't get health insurance, while others were forced to declare bankruptcy when they incurred crippling medical debt because of an accident or an unexpected diagnosis. High and rising health care costs placed serious burdens on our businesses, workers and economy, and threatened the future of
After decades of trying by presidents of both parties,
Even as we have achieved historic coverage gains, the outlook for health care spending has improved dramatically. Over the ACA's first decade, we are now on track to spend
Thanks in part to the ACA's focus on reducing costs and inefficiencies, health care prices have risen at the slowest rate in 50 years since the law passed, which will benefit all of us for years to come. For example, as a result of low premium growth in employer-sponsored coverage, the average premium for employer-sponsored family coverage in 2016 was nearly
The ACA is significantly improving the quality of patient care throughout the health care system. For example, the law provides incentives to hospitals in
The ACA also catalyzed the development of
Across the country, Administration policies have significantly improved access to health care, the affordability of care, and the quality of care since 2009. But there is more work to be done.
In addition, the President believes that there are common-sense ways to continue to improve the ACA. This includes working with the 19 states like
Health Care in America: Improved Access to Care
*Millions more Americans have health insurance. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 20 million adults have gained health insurance coverage. The ACA and CHIPRA have also helped cut the uninsured rate among children by almost half, resulting in more than 3 million additional children having health insurance coverage.
*Overall, 8.6 percent of Americans lacked health insurance in the first quarter of 2016, the lowest rate on record.
*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.
*Since implementation of the Affordable Care Act, there has been a substantial reduction in the uninsured rate across all income levels, age groups, races and ethnicities, and geographic areas.
*The ACA prohibits coverage denials and reduced benefits based on health status, protecting as many as 129 million Americans who have some type of pre-existing health condition, including up to 19 million children.
*The law also 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.
*The ACA provides generous federal support to states that expand
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*The ACA 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 period, 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 that provide health insurance coverage to low-income individuals who would generally otherwise be eligible to buy qualified health plans on the Marketplace.
*The ACA 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.
*The ACA creates health plan disclosure requirements and simple, standardized summaries so over 170 million Americans can better understand coverage information and compare benefits.
Health Care in America: More Affordable Care?
*The ACA's tax credits have helped millions of Americans who otherwise might not be able to afford it sign up for health coverage through the
*In 2015, there were 12 million fewer Americans in families that had problems paying medical bills compared to 2011.
*It also 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
*The ACA eliminates out-of-pocket costs for preventive services like immunizations, certain cancer screenings, contraception, reproductive counseling, obesity screening, and behavioral assessments for children. This coverage is guaranteed for more than 137 million Americans including 55 million women.
*The ACA eliminates out-of-pocket costs for 39 million
*It phases out the "donut hole" coverage gap for over 11 million
*The ACA takes steps to slow the growth of health care spending.
*Relative to the projections the
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*The nation as a whole is projected to spend
*The law creates Accountable Care Organizations consisting of doctors and other health-care providers who come together to provide coordinated, high-quality care at lower costs to their
*And it pays
Health Care in America: Improved Quality and Accountability to You
*The ACA provides incentives to hospitals in
We're not done. Other legislative and executive actions are continuing to advance the cause of effective, accountable and affordable health care. This includes:
*Advancing innovative care delivery models and value-based payments in
*Implementing the funding pool created by the ACA for
*Expanding health provider training opportunities, with an emphasis on primary care, including a significant expansion of the
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[1] Updated national health expenditure projections published this summer estimated that
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