About The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
A New Day for Health Care in America
On September 23, 2010 new reforms under the Affordable Care Act begin to bring to an end some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. These reforms will give Americans new rights and benefits, including helping more children get health coverage, ending lifetime and most annual limits on care, and giving patients access to recommended preventive services* without cost-sharing.
*Preventive Services: Routine health care that includes screenings, check-ups, and patient counseling to prevent illnesses, disease, or other health problems.
These reforms will apply to all new health plans, and to many existing health plans as they are renewed. Many other new benefits of the law have already taken effect, including rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare donut hole and tax credits for small businesses. And more rights, protections and benefits for Americans are on the way now through 2014.
Timeline: What's Changing and When
Provisions | Provisions by Year
Read the full law (beware - it's 974 pages long!)
Source: www.healthcare.gov