Timeline for Affordable Care Act implementation

By Don Davis
Forum Communications
A timeline for implementing the Affordable Care Act.
2010
- Affordable Care Act becomes law
- Tax credits begin for small businesses to help provide employee insurance
- Federal funds available for states to expand health-care for the poor
- Aid available for employers to provide health coverage for retirees 55 to 65 years old
- Federal health plan begins for uninsured with pre-existing conditions
- Young adults up to 26 years old may be covered under parents’ plans
- Insurers must pay all costs of some preventative services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies
- Lifetime limits on insurance coverage outlawed
- Children with pre-existing conditions may not be denied coverage
- Rural health care providers receive more federal aid
2011
- Medicare recipients get free preventative services and some receive discount on brand-name drugs
- At least 80 percent of health care premiums must be spent on benefits and quality improvement, or insurers pay a rebate
2012
- Rules begin to reduce paperwork and other administrative costs
2013
- More federal funds available to states that provide preventative services to the poor and children
- Payments increase to primary care doctors who care for the poor
2014
- Employers, other than small businesses, must provide insurance coverage for workers or pay a penalty
- Insurance companies cannot discriminate based on pre-existing conditions or gender
- Annual limits on insurance coverage outlawed
- Tax credits offered for people making up to four times the poverty rate to help make insurance more affordable
- Government-run exchanges begin to provide a place for the uninsured and small businesses to buy health insurance
- More poor Americans get access to Medicaid
- Most uninsured who can afford insurance must pay a fee
2015
- Doctors to be paid, at least in part, based on the quality of care they deliver
Source: healthcare.gov