Six years ago today, President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare.
Since the bill’s adoption, more than 20 million people have gained health coverage — the largest decrease in uninsured Americans in nearly four decades.
More than 10 million people have gained active coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace, making full use of the coverage system available at Healthcare.gov.
Obamacare has had many cost-saving effects on the healthcare system.
The massive gains in coverage have meant less spending on uncompensated care at hospitals, resulting in more than $7 billion in savings.
Better coverage programs and decreased insurance rates have also meant fewer hospital re-admissions, increased preventative doctor visits and improved patient safety.
The cost of healthcare is also growing at its slowest rate in the past 50 years. We have seen insurance premiums increase about 3-4 percent per year, when those same costs were going up by double digits little more than a decade ago.
Under the Affordable Care Act, fewer Americans have had issues paying for health insurance, getting out of medical debt or accessing necessary medical treatments.
When compared to affordability and accessibility metrics of America’s previous healthcare infrastructure, it is clear the ACA has made massive gains.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, our healthcare system has seen more Americans getting more coverage — and all for less money.
After six years of consistent improvements to the American health industry, we should all be wishing Obamacare a very happy birthday.
Kegan Ferguson
President of the College Democrats at IU
