In Its Five Years, The Affordable Care Act Has Transformed Health Care
While conservatives have looked to increasingly desperate ways to tear down the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whether it is the latest Republican budget or the King v. Burwell lawsuit, this Monday marks a remarkable progressive achievement. By making health insurance more affordable and available, tens of millions of Americans now benefit from quality, affordable care, urban or rural, conservative or liberal. March 23rd is the 5-year anniversary of the ACA. This landmark law has been one of the biggest policy achievements since the 1960s, and after five years it is stronger than ever.
To celebrate the law, we’ve put together the top five facts to show how the law is benefiting Americans:
1. 16.4 million: The Affordable Care Act was the fastest expansion of health insurance since 1965. Since the law went into effect, 16.4 million people who did not previously have health insurance are now covered.
2. 129 million: Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, 129 million people no longer have to worry about an insurer denying or dropping their coverage, significantly raising their premiums, or limiting their benefits because of a pre-existing condition.
3. 20 percent: The Affordable Care Act is now projected to be 20 percent cheaper than expected over the next 10 years, due in large part to slower growth in premium costs than expected – contrary to conservative claims that the ACA was filled with runaway costs and would cause premiums to skyrocket.
4. 71 percent: 71 percent of Americans who purchased health insurance from the state and federal exchanges rated their plans as either “excellent” or “good.”
5. 87 percent: 87 percent of Americans who bought insurance from the federal exchange qualified for tax credits to help make their premiums more affordable.
And while Republicans have repeatedly attacked the law as a “job killer,” the evidence proves them wrong. As the chart below demonstrate, the passage of the Affordable Care Act marks the point when the private sector began to create jobs again after the depths of the Great Recession:
BOTTOM LINE: Despite obsessive conservative attempts to repeal the law and take away health insurance form Americans, the Affordable Care Act is doing better than ever. This landmark achievement for the progressive movement, and for the country at-large, is a giant leap towards ensuring that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care.