People with Disabilities and the ACA

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is making health insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans. With the passage of this law, individuals and families have more control over their care – especially individuals with disabilities. The ACA provides people with disabilities a basic protection – they can no longer be denied access to health insurance simply because of their health history.

Under the ACA, individuals like myself can no longer be denied health care because of a pre-existing condition. This is significant for the up to 129 million non-elderly Americans living with some type of pre-existing health condition such as asthma or diabetes, including 17.6 million children.

We have come a long way over the past year. All combined, in just one year, we’ve reduced the number of uninsured adults by 26%. Additionally, 76 million Americans with private health insurance are getting preventive services such as vaccines, cancer screenings, and yearly wellness visits for free. Finally, more than 7 million Americans are enrolled in the Marketplace and more than 8 million additional individuals are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, compared to last fall.

We have much to celebrate but there is work to be done. November 15 marks the beginning of the second enrollment period, which will run until February 15. The Administration is committed to ensuring that all Americans have access to coverage. The open enrollment period is a time for Americans already enrolled to re-enroll. It is also a chance for those without coverage to enroll for the first time.

Take a few minutes to watch Joey talk about what the ACA has meant for him and millions of others:

To learn more about getting covered, please visit HealthCare.gov.

By Taryn Williams
Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Posted with permission from The White House Blog 

Three Major Ways the ACA helps Young Adults with Special Health Care Needs

Many children with special health care needs and their families rely on the support of state and federal government programs or benefits to allow them to get the care they need. Without this governmental support, many of these children and young adults would be unable to go to school; their parents would be unable to work, or to live healthy lives. As children transition to adulthood, many of these support systems and benefits fall away. Most of these programs are offered only to children. In order to keep getting the care they rely on, these kids must attempt to find adult programs that offer similar benefits. Due to the differences in programs, as well as differences in eligibility criteria, many of these disabled young adults end up going without much of the care they would need to become healthy, integrated members of society. Needless to say, the process of transitioning from childhood to adulthood is a complicated and confusing one.

How will the ACA change the situation of “transition-age youth”?

1. Dependent Coverage: The ACA mandates that insurance companies must let kids remain covered by their parents’ health insurance up until age 26. For disabled young adults who have insured parents, this is good news. Many children with disabilities receive health care through programs offered only to children, so when those programs come to an end typically at age 19, they lose insurance coverage. Coverage under a parent’s insurance until age 26 would give the family time to secure other insurance options for their disabled child.

2. New Insurance Purchasing Power: Starting in 2014, health insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage due to a pre-existing condition, a problem that has caused many issues for transition-age youth with a history of pre-existing conditions looking to purchase insurance.. Additionally, the state health benefits exchanges will begin operations in 2014. These exchanges are predicted to create a consumer-friendly marketplace for individuals and families to purchase insurance options. Tax credits will be offered to citizens between 133-400% of the Federal Poverty Level, in order to offset the costs of plan premiums. So, a transition-age youth or the family of a disabled child looking to purchase insurance will have new consumer powers and protections to aid in doing so.

3. An Expanded Safety Net: The Medicaid expansion will begin January 1, 2014. Under the expansion, all adults with income below 133% of the federal poverty level will become eligible for Medicaid benefits. Often, children who are eligible for Medicaid due to a disability as a child are no longer eligible when judged by the different disability criteria that are applied to adults. The expansion will allow many disabled transition-age youth to keep their Medicaid benefits, regardless of their disability status.