The passing and implementation of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) ushered in a new era for the delivery of health services in the United States. The broad goals of expanding insurance coverage, controlling health care costs, and improving health care delivery system are ambitious and have implications for providers and the population. Observers have suggested that expanding insurance and dec...

T he Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law by President Obama in March 2010, provides for comprehensive health reform in the United States. A major part of the ACA includes insurance reforms designed to make adequate and affordable health insurance accessible to nearly everyone. Five years after the ACA became law, and 1 year after major insurance reforms took effect , we discuss in this a...

In Brief Uncertainty about federal support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to threaten enrollment and stability in the nongroup insurance markets. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are likely to continue their efforts to repeal and replace the law. But targeted policies could fix the ACA’s problems without sacrificing its gains in coverage, affordability, and access to care. Thes...

The need to improve population health is critical. This commentary explores how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) can help us improve population health, highlights some of the actions North Carolina has taken in response to the ACA's provisions, and discusses the value of health investments in the future.

McDonough’s perspective on healthcare reform in the US provides a clear, coherent analysis of the mix of access and delivery reforms in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka Obamacare. As noted by McDonough, this major reform bill is designed to expand access for health coverage that includes both prevention and treatment benefits among uninsured Americans. Additionally, this legislation includes s...

Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), Medicare has embraced a new economic model for delivering higher quality health care at lower costs. This legislation establishes the groundwork for new entities known as “Accountable Care Organizations” or ACO’s, with specific operating guidelines and a new reimbursement model. The model is outlined in the Medicare Shared Savings program, and has be...

At the same time, promoting health care “value” has become a focal point of state and national policymakers in their efforts to improve the health care system. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) directs states to set up exchanges where consumers and small businesses can purchase health insurance. These exchanges are required by legislation to present information on value,...

The health care debate has largely focused on the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (the ACA) aimed at expanding health insurance coverage to all Americans, most notably the individual mandate requirement. The ACA, however, also takes important steps to address the companion challenge of making health care coverage affordable by reigning in health care costs. These steps include various ini...

We examine the labor market impacts of Affordable Care Act dependent mandate (ACA-DM), which has significantly increased children's health insurance coverage through parents’ employer-sponsored benefits. Using data from American Community Survey, we find that ACA-DM reduced annual wages by about $2,600. However, probability employment and working hours only decreased marginally. The back-of-the...

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have received significant attention since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the spring of 2010. The ACA directs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to create the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which encourages groups of providers (e.g., group practices, networks of individual practices,...