Read the Affordable Care Act, Health Care Law (2024)

You can read the Affordable Care Act by visiting the links below. The health care law, sometimes known as "Obamacare," was signed March 23, 2010.

Read the full law

The law has 2 parts: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. You can view them in PDF or HTML formats below. You can also view an unofficial, consolidated version that is more readable.

In all cases, the documents are searchable using the “Control + F” keys on your computer and typing in the word or phrase you are looking for.

Official certified full-text of the laws in PDF form:

Summary and certified full-text version in HTML (web page) format:

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Read the Affordable Care Act, Health Care Law (2024)

FAQs

Where can I read the Affordable Care Act? ›

Read the Affordable Care Act, Health Care Law | HealthCare.gov.

What is the Affordable health Care Act in simple terms? ›

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a comprehensive reform law, enacted in 2010, that increases health insurance coverage for the uninsured and implements reforms to the health insurance market. This includes many provisions that are consistent with AMA policy and holds the potential for a better health care system.

Why is the Affordable Care Act so important? ›

The ACA helps cut high U.S. health care costs.

In addition to increasing insurance coverage, the Affordable Care Act makes investments in programs designed to reduce the cost and improve the quality of health care.

What was the Affordable Care Act and what was its goal? ›

Those are affordability, medical care that is innovative, and the expansion of Medicaid. The main goal of the ACA was to ensure that every American could afford a health insurance plan. This allowed families whose income put them at poverty level to be able to afford their health insurance premium.

What is the 13 week rule for ACA? ›

If the employee is rehired after a period of at least 13 consecutive weeks where they did not work or provide an hour of service, the employer can treat the employee as a new employee.

What is the difference between the Affordable Care Act ACA and Obamacare? ›

“Obamacare” and the “Affordable Care Act” are the SAME thing. A recent article in the New York Times reported survey results showing that one-third of the people surveyed did not know that “Obamacare” and the “Affordable Care Act” refer to the same law. So? Even more people – more than 60 percent!

What is the highest income to qualify for Obamacare? ›

Obamacare subsidy income limits for 2024
Household sizeMin. incomeTypical max. income
2$19,720$78,880
3$24,860$99,440
4$30,000$120,000
5$35,140$140,560
1 more row
Jan 2, 2024

What are the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act? ›

Some pros of Obamacare include more affordable health insurance and coverage for preexisting health conditions, while some cons include people having to pay higher premiums. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010.

What are the disadvantages of the Affordable Care Act? ›

The disadvantages of the ACA are: 1) Higher insurance deductibles may apply, 2) There is a potential for more out of pocket costs to the patient, 3) ASU Health Services and/or your physician may not be included in the plan's network of providers.

What are three main points of the Affordable Care Act? ›

The law has 3 primary goals:
  • Make affordable health insurance available to more people. ...
  • Expand Medicaid to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. ...
  • Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.

Is Affordable Care Act good or bad? ›

Results shown among those who say the ACA helped them and among total adults. The February 2024 Health Tracking Poll also reveals four in ten (39%) adults say the ACA has made it easier for people like them to get health insurance, while about one in four (23%) say it has made it more difficult.

How did the Affordable Care Act affect healthcare? ›

Healthcare reform makes health coverage available and more affordable for millions of Americans. It gives subsidies for those who purchase private insurance and California expanded Medi-Cal to include more people and single adults.

What are the 10 essential benefits of the Affordable Care Act? ›

The Affordable Care Act requires non-grandfathered health plans in the individual and small group markets to cover essential health benefits (EHB), which include items and services in the following ten benefit categories: (1) ambulatory patient services; (2) emergency services; (3) hospitalization; (4) maternity and ...

In which three ways did the Affordable Care Act affect individuals? ›

Make affordable health insurance coverage more accessible to more people in the individual market. Expand the Medicaid program to cover more adults who meet the low-income threshold. Reduce healthcare costs affecting consumers and the federal government by supporting innovative medical care methods.

How many pages was the ACA? ›

Affordable Care Act
EffectiveMarch 23, 2010 Most major provisions phased in by January 2014; remaining provisions phased in by 2020; penalty enforcing individual mandate set at $0 starting 2019
Citations
Public law111–148
Statutes at Large124 Stat. 119 through 124 Stat. 1025 (906 pages)
Codification
12 more rows

Does the Affordable Care Act still exist? ›

Despite many votes on whether or not to repeal it, the ACA still exists and is still the law of the land for healthcare coverage. The ACA has gone through some small changes and modifications since its inception.

Who was the author of the Affordable Care Act? ›

The Affordable Health Care for America Act (or HR 3962) was a bill that was crafted by the United States House of Representatives of the 111th United States Congress on October 29, 2009. The bill was sponsored by Representative Charles Rangel.

Is the Affordable Care Act the same as HealthCare gov? ›

HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated by the United States federal government under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, commonly referred to as "Obamacare", which currently serves the residents of the U.S. states which have opted not to create their own state exchanges.

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