Aims: To decrease the number of uninsured Americans and reduce health care costs
Passed in 2010, upheld in Supreme Court in 2012, 2015
Expansion of coverage:
Individual mandate (removed in the 2017 tax bill effective 2019)
Medicaid expansion: Set the Medicaid minimum income eligibility across the US to <138% of the federal poverty level
Health insurance exchanges: competitive markets with clear information to assist persons in purchasing insurance; subsidized for families <400% poverty limit
Affordable Care Act7
Ongoing challenges:
Access to Health Care7
Ongoing challenges:
Ms. O is a 62 year-old woman presenting to the ED with dense right hemiparesis and aphasia. CT scan confirms a large MCA infarct and her labs reveal previously undiagnosed hyperlipidemia. Review of a prior ED visit for an unrelated issue reveals that she has untreated hypertension. She is uninsured and has not seen a doctor in over ten years.
Ms. O is a 62 year-old woman presenting to the ED with dense right hemiparesis and aphasia. CT scan confirms a large MCA infarct and her labs reveal previously undiagnosed hyperlipidemia. Review of a prior ED visit for an unrelated issue reveals that she has untreated hypertension. She is uninsured and has not seen a doctor in over ten years.
How did her lack of health insurance contribute to this outcome?