The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, gives uninsured Americans access to health insurance. To find out if you are eligible for ACA coverage, continue reading.
What Is ACA Coverage?
ACA coverage is a term that applies to any health insurance plan that is compliant with the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act is a series of laws that were passed to ensure that low-income Americans can acquire health insurance at reduced costs. It also requires health insurance providers to offer insurance plans that cover a set of essential benefits.
The goals of the 2010 health-reform law were officially stated to be:
- Make affordable health insurance available to more people.
- Expand the Medicaid program.
- Support medical care delivery that reduces costs.
What Are The Essential Health Benefits?
The ACA was implemented because too few Americans had access to adequate health insurance coverage. Part of this legislation was designed to ensure that the health insurance plans people could access offered them complete coverage. While not all health events are covered by ACA plans, the plans are required to include ten essential health benefits.
The essential health benefits include:
- Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care you get without being admitted to a hospital)
- Emergency services
- Hospitalization (like surgery and overnight stays)
- Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care (both before and after birth)
- Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy)
- Prescription drugs
- Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)
- Laboratory services
- Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
- Pediatric services, including oral and vision care (but adult dental and vision coverage aren’t essential health benefits)
How To Get ACA Coverage?
To purchase an ACA health insurance plan, you have several options. The simplest way of finding a plan is contacting an agent or broker to have them help you sort through the available policies. You can also find coverage yourself by using Healthcare.gov to apply online. For those who are not comfortable using the internet, calling the Marketplace Call Center to enroll by phone is also an option.
Who Is Eligible For ACA Coverage?
Nearly all Americans are eligible to purchase an ACA-compliant plan. The only exceptions are:
- People who live outside the U.S.
- People who are incarcerated
- People who are not lawfully present in the U.S.
- People who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals
- People who are covered by Medicare
Find ACA Coverage
The ACA has expanded the availability of health insurance plans, especially for low-income families. To take advantage of one of these affordable health insurance plans, start shopping for coverage today.
You can contact Insured For Life at 888-989-0079 to receive a free quote on health insurance options in your area.