Wez
DA
Ummm, yes it is. It didn't fix the main problem, but it did fix some:
The biggest benefit of the ACA is that it lowers overall health care costs. It does this by providing insurance for millions and making preventive care free. This means people receive treatment before they need expensive emergency room services. In 2016, the cost of health care services increased 1.2 percent for the year. That's much less than the price increase of 4 percent in 2004. (Source: "Health Care Services Depress Recent PCE Inflation Readings," Dallas Fed, August 2016.)
It requires all insurance plans to cover 10 essential health benefits. These include treatment for mental health, addiction and chronic diseases. Without these services, many patients wind up in the emergency room. Those costs are passed onto Medicaid, and therefore the taxpayer.
Insurance companies can no longer deny anyone coverage for pre-existing conditions. They can't drop them or raise premiums if they get sick.
It eliminates lifetime and annual coverage limits.
Children can stay on their parents’ health insurance plans up to age 26. As of 2012, more than 3 million previously uninsured young people were added. This increases profit for insurance companies. They receive more premiums from these healthy individuals. (Source: Department of Health and Human Services.)
States must set up insurance exchanges or use the federal government's exchange. Either method makes it easier to shop for plans.
The middle class (earning up to 400 percent of the poverty level) receives tax credits on their premiums. It expands Medicaid to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, providing this coverage to adults without children for the first time.
It eliminates the Medicare "doughnut hole" gap in coverage by 2020.
Businesses with more than 50 employees must offer health insurance. They receive tax credits to help with the costs.
It lowers the budget deficit by $143 billion by 2022. It does this in three ways. First, it reduces the government's health care costs. Second, it raises taxes on some businesses and higher income families. Third, it shifts cost burdens to health care providers and pharmacy companies. (Source: "CBO Report on Health Care Reform and the Budget," Congressional Budget Office. "What Health Insurance Ruling Means," The Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2012. "Medicaid Expansion," National Public Radio, June 27, 2012.)
