Issue Brief – ACA is Good for Lung Health

Download the Issue Brief – Affordable Care Act is Good for Lung Health PDF.

Executive Summary

In March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. Since that time, more than one million Illinois residents gained insurance coverage through either the Health Insurance Marketplace or the Medicaid Expansion, and the uninsured rate in Illinois has fallen by 49 percent.

With ongoing threats to the ACA from Congress, advocates are taking a close look at how its possible repeal will impact vulnerable populations, both locally and nationally, with a particular focus on the numbers who will lose their health care coverage.

With this brief, the Respiratory Health Association (RHA) focused on why a repeal of the ACA would be bad for lung health. Several provisions of the ACA have been particularly valuable to efforts to prevent and improve health outcomes for people living with asthma and other respiratory conditions; we highlight four of those:

• Dependent Coverage for Young Adults: Reducing Asthma Emergency Room Visits
• Medicaid Expansion: Improving Quality of Asthma Care
• The Prevention and Public Health Fund: Supporting Tobacco Control
• Requiring Coverage for Pre-Existing Condition: Making Treatment Affordable

Date of Publication: May 2017

If you have questions or would like additional information about the Affordable Care Act and lung health, please contact Erica Salem via email esalem@resphealth.org or by phone (312) 628-0235.