Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act is the comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010 (sometimes known as ACA, PPACA, or “Obamacare”).

The law has 3 primary goals:

• Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
  • If your income is above 400% FPL, you may still qualify for a premium tax credit.
  • If your income is at or below 150% FPL, you may qualify to enroll in or change Marketplace coverage through a Special Enrollment Period.
• Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.)
• Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.