Taking Stock of the ACA at Five Years
Although the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is perhaps most evident in the availability of health insurance to Americans and their ability to access care, “Obamacare” is also having significant effects on the quality and safety of care, how health services are delivered to millions of patients, and how providers are reimbursed.<br /><br />
In a new Health Policy Report for the <em>New England Journal of Medicine, </em>The Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., Melinda Abrams, and Rachel Nuzum review the law’s track record at the five-year mark, taking note not only of the transformation in health coverage—including the more than 30 million Americans who now have insurance under the ACA’s new coverage sources and consumer protections—but also the decline in hospital readmission rates, improvement in hospital-acquired infection rates, and bolstering of the nation’s primary care capacity.<br />
<br />
To mark the five-year anniversary of the most significant piece of health legislation in half a century, tomorrow The Commonwealth Fund will unveil several new resources and tools that together help bring to life the ACA’s changes to health care in America, including many that are critically important but less well known.