Affordable Care Act: Numbers to Know

Affordable Care Act: Numbers to Know

The following press release was published by the U.S. Congress Committee on Ways and Means on April 2, 2014. It is reproduced in full below.

Numbers to Know

* Up to 129 million Americans with pre-existing health conditions, including up to 17 million children, no longer have to worry about being denied coverage or charged higher premiums due to their health status.

* 108 million Americans - including 71 million Americans in private plans and 37 million seniors in Medicare - have received access to free preventive services.

* Nearly 30 million women in private plans are receiving free coverage for comprehensive women’s preventive services, including well-woman visits and gestational diabetes screening.

* 8.5 million Americans received $500 million in rebates from insurers because the insurers had failed in 2012 to meet the new requirement that at least 80% of premiums cover medical care. Consumers also saved an additional $3.4 billion up front on their premiums in 2012 as insurers operated more efficiently.

* 3.1 million young adults have gained health coverage because they can now stay on their parents’ health plan up to age 26.

* 105 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit or an annual limit on their coverage.

* 7.9 million seniors in the ‘donut hole’ have already saved $9.9 billion on their prescription drugs, an average savings of $1,265 per person.

* More than 4.4 million seniors have had a free Annual Wellness Visit under Medicare.

* 360,000 small employers have already used the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit to help provide health insurance to 2 million workers.

Source: U.S. Congress Committee on Ways and Means

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