Health Reform 2010

Introduction

In March 2010, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The Affordable Care Act puts in place a comprehensive health insurance reforms that holds insurance companies more accountable, will lower the costs of health care, guarantee more choices for health care, and will enhance the quality of health care for all Americans. It will make insurance more affordable immediately by providing tax credits to small businesses, and in 2014, by providing tax credits to the people who need help purchasing insurance, which represents the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history.

The Affordable Care Act is expected to reduce the cost of premiums for millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today. This could possibly help as many as 32 million Americans who do not currently have health care coverage obtain coverage.

There are several ways that the Affordable Care Act will help lower costs, these include the following:

* The Health Reform will set up a new competitive health insurance market, which will give millions of Americans and small businesses to coverage that is affordable. These Americans will have the same choices of insurance that members of Congress will have.

* It will hold insurance companies accountable by keeping premiums low and preventing many types of abuses in the insurance industry and denials of care. It will also end discrimination against Americans who have pre-existing conditions.

* The Health Reform will place our national budget and economy on a more steady path. It is expected to reduce our national deficit by more than $100 billion over the next ten years by cutting government overspending and reducing infractions in waste, fraud, and abuse.

Starting this year, the Affordable Care Act will be implemented, and it will run through the year 2014 and beyond. The Affordable Care Act will help to increase access to affordable...