March 23rd, 2022 by WCBC Radio
The landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law twelve years ago today by President Obama, helped reduce the number of people who are uninsured, establish vital consumer protections that ended discriminatory medical underwriting practices by insurers, and curtail “bare-bones” plans that were no good for consumers.
The ACA ushered in many important consumer protections, which ensure that you have access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance. A few examples of these important consumer protections include:
- Eliminating lifetime caps on essential health benefits;
- Requiring health plans to offer coverage to all eligible consumers who apply for health insurance, including people with pre-existing conditions;
- Banning health plans from canceling or refusing to renew a person’s health plan based on their medical history;
- Barring health plans from charging higher premiums based on gender or medical status;
- Requiring health plans to offer certain essential health benefits, including preventive and rehabilitative care, prescription drugs, wellness visits and contraceptives, and mental health and substance use treatment;
- Allowing young adults to stay on their parent’s plan until age 26; and
- Giving consumers the right to appeal decisions made by their health plan to an outside, independent decision panel.
With the ACA, you have greater access to preventative care since many preventative services must be covered without any copays, as long as you stay in your health plan’s participating provider network (check your benefits guide for a list of preventative services that qualify for no cost-sharing).
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