By The Associated Press By The Associated Press ADVERTISING Medicare was signed into law on July 30, 1965, and within a year seniors were receiving coverage. President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, and the
By The Associated Press
Medicare was signed into law on July 30, 1965, and within a year seniors were receiving coverage. President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, and the uninsured start getting coverage more than three years later on Jan. 1, 2014. Some key dates in the saga of Obama’s signature legislation:
March 23, 2010 — Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Democrats hail an achievement their party pursued for more than 50 years — individuals’ right to health care. The law requires most Americans to carry health insurance starting in 2014, and it bars insurers from turning away the sick. It creates state markets for middle-class people without workplace coverage to purchase private insurance, subsidized with tax credits. It expands Medicaid for the low-income uninsured. After long debate, the legislation barely passed a divided Congress, with no Republican support.
Fall 2010 — During open enrollment, most health insurance plans begin offering coverage to young adults up to age 26 on a parent’s policy. The popular early provision expanded coverage to more than 3 million people. Plans also begin covering preventive services at no charge.
Jan. 19, 2011 — The Republican-led House votes to repeal “Obamacare,” but the drive falters in the Senate, where Democrats retain a majority. Since then, the House has repeatedly voted to repeal, defund or in some way scale back the law. Republican replacement legislation has been stymied by divisions within the party.
April 5, 2011 — Congress votes to repeal an unpopular tax requirement in the law that would have forced millions of businesses to file tax forms for every vendor selling them more than $600 in goods. Agreeing to sign it, Obama says he’ll make fixes as warranted.
Summer 2011 — Seniors hitting Medicare’s prescription drug coverage gap start getting a 50 percent discount on brand name medications, part of the health care law’s gradual closing of the “doughnut hole.” In 2011, the typical senior in the gap saved about $600 on bills averaging $1,500.
Aug. 1, 2011 — Sebelius, on the recommendation of an expert panel, declares that most health plans will have to cover birth control for women as a preventive service, free of charge. The coverage became available in 2013, as lawsuits proliferated from groups and businesses objecting on religious grounds.
June 28, 2012 — With the unlikely support of conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court upholds the law’s core requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, ruling that the penalties to enforce it are a tax Congress is authorized to levy. But the court allows states to individually opt out of the Medicaid expansion, which accounts for about half the law’s coverage expansion.
Summer 2012 — Employers and consumers receive more than $1 billion in rebates from their insurers, which are required under the ACA to spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar on medical expenses and quality improvement, or refund the difference.
Jan. 1, 2013 — Tax increases to finance the ACA take effect on about 2.5 million households, individuals making more than $200,000 per year and couples over $250,000.
Winter/Spring, 2013 — States decide whether they’ll run the new insurance markets and expand Medicaid programs. The ACA advances mainly in blue states, while most Republican-led states continue to oppose the law.
April 30, 2013 — Obama administration unveils simplified forms consumers will use to apply for health insurance and financial assistance to pay their premiums. The first version was criticized as too complicated.
Oct. 1, 2013 — Online insurance markets are scheduled to open in every state. Consumers must sign up by Dec. 15 for coverage to take effect Jan. 1.
