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What the Affordable Care Act Means for Older Adults
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This fact sheet explains how the Affordable Care Act protects consumers, including older adults.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) strengthened Medicare and Medicaid and created important coverage avenues and consumer protections for people of all ages. Despite these successes, the health law continues to face opposition from some policy corners in Congress, the states, some presidential administrations, and the courts.
From expanding affordable care access to preventing discrimination based on health status to boosting Medicare’s financial outlook, the ACA improved the nation’s health care infrastructure. It also reduced the number of the uninsured, which meant fewer people facing high rates of medical debt, delays in treatment, and poor credit. These advances are especially important for older adults, who often have health problems that cause them to rely on the ACA’s consumer protections as they approach Medicare eligibility.
Recent Resources
Any changes to the Medicare program must aim for healthier people, better care, and smarter spending—not paying more for less. As policymakers debate the future of health care, we will provide our insights here.
Thinking ahead to Medicare's future, it’s important to modernize benefits and pursue changes that improve how people with Medicare navigate their coverage on a daily basis. Here are our evolving 30 policy goals for Medicare’s future.
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