Who Uses ObamaCare?


Everyone who has health coverage uses ObamaCare in one way or another. It is a misconception that only one demographic is impacted by the Affordable Care Act.

Those who are impacted the most by ObamaCare’s provisions are those covered under the expansion of Medicaid, those who qualify for cost assistance, those who got covered by the expansion of employer coverage, and those who saw an improvement under Medicare.

So in short, almost everyone was impacted in one way or another, but certain groups saw the biggest changes:

  • Children, families, and single adults making under 138% of the poverty level get covered under Medicaid and/or CHIP.
  • Individuals and families with incomes between 100% and 250% of the poverty level qualify for out-of-pocket cost assistance on marketplace silver plans.
  • Individuals and families with incomes between 100% and 400% of the poverty level qualify for premium tax credits on marketplace plans.
  • Full time employees who didn’t have health coverage before the law saw health coverage expanded under the law if the worked for a larger business (those who worked for smaller businesses could use the marketplace).
  • All Medicare recipients were impacted by the ACA’s provisions, for example by expanding free wellness visits and by closing the Part D Donut hole.
  • Everyone with coverage was impacted both by rising costs in the short term, lowering the rate of inflation in the long term, by expanding protections and benefits, and by new checks on healthcare providers.

In all, over 20 million of the 320+ million Americans living in the U.S. didn’t have health coverage, but got coverage under the law. Then, about 90% of America is covered under some health plan, and everyone covered is at least indirectly impacted by the ACA.

Author: Thomas DeMichele

Thomas DeMichele is the head writer and founder of ObamaCareFacts.com, FactsOnMedicare.com, and other websites. He has been in the health insurance and healthcare information field since 2012. ObamaCareFacts.com is a...

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