Health Reform

Health Reform, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2010. While the law has far-reaching implications for health care in the United States, it is designed to create a more efficient health care system that serves more people.

Media coverage focuses on the public’s divided opinion about the law, yet the reality is more nuanced. Many individual provisions of the law are highly popular including tax credits for small businesses, the ban on denying insurance coverage due to medical history, financial help for low and moderate income families, and the prohibition of lifetime coverage limits.

The law will gradually roll out through 2014, yet many of its provisions are already in effect. The challenge will be efficient implementation while continually improving the health care system, as it begins to serve the health care needs of many more Americans.

ACA Help Desk: Your questions and answers

Resources

National

  • Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, March 16, 2015

  • enroll207.com

  • Putting Patients First

  • Enroll America, April 2014

  • Urban Institute Health Policy Center, May 22, 2014

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, Oct. 23, 2013

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, November 2013

  • Health insurance marketplace is coming soon. Use this site and its resources to answer your questions about the marketplace and insurance.

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, Dec. 1, 2011

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2012

  • July 2010

  • The Commonwealth Fund, August 2012

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, May 2010

  • Kaiser EDU, 2010

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, September 2012.

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, Aug. 24, 2012

  • The Commonwealth Fund, July 13, 2012

  • Leavitt Partners

  • National Academy for State Health Policy, 2012

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, July 5, 2012

  • Washington Post, June 28,2012.

  • Kaiser Health News

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, April 26, 2012

  • The Kaiser Family Foundation

  • Kaiser Family Foundation

  • Kaiser Health Foundation

  • Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Source

  • Despite recent polling finding that a majority of Americans prefer a smaller overall government, a new poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health found that a majority of Americans—52 percent—prefer a bigger government providing more health services, while just 37 percent support a smaller government providing fewer health services.

  • Lake Research Partners, 2011

  • Kaiser Health News, 2011

  • Kaiser Health News, 2010

  • statehealthfacts.org, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

  • Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, June 2011.

  • Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, June 2011.

  • Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, May 2011.

  • Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, May 2011.

  • The Commonwealth Fund, May 2011.

  • This paper examines the key issues raised in a December 2010 roundtable discussion of federal and state officials and experts convened by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured to examine important issues related to ensuring access to care in Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Kaiser Family Foundation, May 2011.

  • A series of online publications written by Kaiser Foundation staff that use charts, data and analysis to provide insight into the political and policy debates about the cost of health care in the United States. The publications are designed to encourage an informed policy discussion as leaders in Washington and across the country weigh strategies for controlling the rising cost of health care for people, businesses and government alike.

  • This analysis from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the potential costs and savings that the health reform law may generate for state budgets, a topic of great interest at a time when states continue to struggle with tight budgets in the wake of the recession.

  • Provides an overview of the new Health Reform law including answers to questions, fact sheets, and more.

  • Focus on Health Reform, Kaiser Family Foundation, Updated April 2011.

  • Saint Louis University School of Law, March 2010

  • Saint Louis University School of Law, April 2010

  • The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

  • A project of the George Washington University’s Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  • The White House website

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, March 2010

  • Federal government website about health care and health reform.

Regional

Grant Reports

Infographics

  • Kaiser Family Foundation, infographic courtesy of the Journal of American Medical Association, Sept. 18, 2013

Organizational Resources

News

Regional