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The '''Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act''' was a bill in the [[United States]]. It was signed into law by President [[Barack Obama]] on March 23, 2010. It is also known as '''Obamacare'''. The law addresses health insurance coverage, health care costs, and preventive care. The law was enacted in two parts: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and was amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act on March 30, 2010.

Individuals who have low or no income, or their household meets a certain income threshold, they may qualify for a government subsidy to help them afford the insurance needed to cover rehab. Subsidies offered through the ACA include the premium tax credit and the cost-sharing subsidy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Government Funding for Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation|url=https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/public-assistance|access-date=2020-11-24|website=American Addiction Centers|language=en}}</ref>

== Parts of the act ==

There are many parts to the health care law.

===General===
There is now no limit on how long a person can get health care from a company. If an insurance company wants to make people [[payment|pay]] more for their [[coverage]], they have to give an [[explanation]] of their decision to the public. The amount that a person pays for health care, called an [[insurance premium]], must now be used by the insurance companies only for health care. This money cannot be used for other things, like paying workers.<ref name="hhs" />

Health care that goes to [[preventing]] sickness is now free for many people. This is called preventive care. Health care plans now give people more choices for [[doctors]]. People can also get [[emergency]] health care at hospitals that are not covered by their health insurance.<ref name="hhs" />

=== Children ===
Because of this law, children can use the health insurance of their parents until they are 26 years old. Children under 19 years old have to be given good health insurance by insurance companies, even if they are very [[sick]] before they purchase health insurance. This means that health insurance companies cannot limit [[coverage]] to only healthy children.<ref name="hhs">[https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

=== Individual mandate ===
People who do not have health insurance will have to pay a tax until they get health insurance. This part of the act is called the [[individual mandate]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] decided that the government has a right to give this tax under the [[United States Constitution]]. The amount that people will have to pay if they do not have health insurance will increase every year [[until]] 2016. Some people without health insurance will not have to pay this tax, such as poor people who cannot get insurance for free.<ref name="npr tax">[https://www.npr.org/2013/10/11/230851737/faq-understanding-the-health-insurance-mandate-and-penalties-for-going-uninsured NPR FAQ: Understanding The Health Insurance Mandate And Penalties For Going Uninsured]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

=== Companies and workers ===

In 2015, companies that have more than 50 full-time workers will be responsible for giving these workers health insurance. Companies who have fewer than 50 workers will not have to do this. A full-time worker is a person who works for more than 30 hours a week at one [[job]].<ref name="npr employer">[https://www.npr.org/2013/10/11/231103865/faq-how-obamacare-affects-employers-and-how-they-re-responding NPR FAQ: https://www.npr.org/2013/10/11/231103865/faq-how-obamacare-affects-employers-and-how-they-re-responding]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

=== Health insurance marketplace ===
If you do not have health insurance, then you can purchase insurance on the [[Health Insurance Marketplace]]. You can also purchase insurance on the marketplace if the company that you work for gives you insurance and you are not happy with it. People can use the Health Insurance Marketplace to buy insurance on the [[website]] [[Healthcare.gov]]. If people want health insurance by January 1st, 2014, they have to [[register]] for the insurance on this market by December 15th, 2013. If they register after December 15th and they do not get health insurance by January 1st, then they will probably have to pay the tax from the [[individual mandate]]. There are ways to [[contact]] someone who works for the government if you have problems registering for health insurance on this market.<ref name="npr exchange">[https://www.npr.org/2013/10/11/230916150/faq-all-about-health-insurance-exchanges-and-how-to-shop-for-coverage NPR FAQ: All About Health Insurance Exchanges And How To Shop For Coverage]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

Each health insurance on this market has to pay for a person’s [[prescription]] medicine, [[emergency]] health care, maternity care, [[mental]] health care, [[rehabilitation]], and many other things. Maternity care is given to pregnant women to take care of their children.<ref name="npr exchange" />

=== Medicaid expansion ===
[[Medicaid]] is health insurance given to people with low income that is paid by the [[U.S. state|states]] and the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]. Medicaid will be expanded so that more people can use it. States can choose if they want to expand Medicaid. If they choose to do this, then the federal government will pay for the [[majority]] of the cost of Medicaid.

== Disapproval ==

[[File:Death Panel protest sign 2 cropped.jpg|thumbnail|Death Panel protest]]

=== Effect on companies ===

People were [[Worry|worried]] that companies would not hire new workers or would make people work for less than 30 hours in one week so that they would not have to pay for health insurance. There have been some stories of companies doing this, but there are no statistics to support it.<ref name="npr employer" />

=== Medicaid expansion ===

There are 27 states that are not happy with the Medicaid expansion. The Supreme Court of the United States decided that these states do not have to expand Medicaid, even if the federal government wants them to.<ref name="forbes">[https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2013/07/27/about-half-u-s-states-will-expand-medicaid-under-obamacare/#d942bd Forbes: About Half U.S. States Will Expand Medicaid Under Obamacare].Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

=== Government shutdown ===

In October 2013, the government stopped working for 16 days because [[Republicans]] refused to raise the debt ceiling unless President Obama agreed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They led to the shutdown of the government.<ref name="cnn">[http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/government-shutdown-up-to-speed/ CNN: Government shutdown: Get up to speed in 20 questions]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref> Over 800,000 people who work for the government were not paid [[during]] this time and the government had to pay them back after the shutdown ended.

=== Death panels ===

In August 2009, Sarah Palin, a person who used to be a [[candidate]] for vice president, said to the news that the Affordable Care Act would create [[death panels]]. She said that these death panels would be a group of people who would decide whether or not an older person was to receive health care or whether they should die. Many news companies and people who do research have shown that what she said is not true.<ref name="media matters">[http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/08/08/the-hill-rehabs-palins-death-panels/195287 The Hill Rehabs Palin's "Death Panels"]. Retrieved November 21, 2013.</ref>

== 2017 repeal effort ==
On May 4, 2017, the [[American Health Care Act of 2017]] (AHCA) was passed narrowly by the [[United States House of Representatives]] with a vote of 217 to 213, sending the bill to the Senate for voting<ref name="house-count">{{Cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2017/roll256.xml|title=FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 256|date=May 4, 2017|website=house.gov}}</ref> This is the second time the AHCA was voted in the House as the first version was not approved by the House in March 2017.<ref name="CNN-passage">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/04/politics/health-care-vote/|title=House Republicans pass bill to repeal and replace Obamacare|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=May 4, 2017|access-date=May 4, 2017}}</ref> President [[Donald Trump]] supported the passage of the AHCA and supports the idea of replacing and removing Obamacare.<ref name="fox-bill">{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/04/republican-health-care-bill-whats-in-it.html|title=Republican health care bill: What's in it?|work=[[Fox News Channel|Fox News]]|date=May 4, 2017|access-date=May 4, 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Health care]]
* ''[[Constitutional challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]''
* ''[[Contraceptive mandate]]''
* ''[[David Zubik]]''
* ''[[Legal challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]''

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
* [https://www.healthcare.gov/ HealthCare.Gov]

[[Category:United States federal legislation]]
[[Category:Health care]]
[[Category:Barack Obama]]

Affordable Care Act - Revision history

WikiDwarf at 06:26, 28 October 2022