MARCH 2011 Realizing Health Reform’s Potential The Essential Health Benefits Provisions of the Affordable Care Act: Implications for People with Disabilities The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high performance health care Sara Rosenbaum, Joel Teitelbaum, and Katherine Hayes system. The Fund carries out this mandate George Washington University by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. Abstract Support for this research was provided by The : In establishing minimum coverage standards for health insurance plans, the Commonwealth Fund. The views presented Affordable Care Act includes an “essential health benefits” statute that directs the U.S. here are those of the authors and not Secretary of Health and Human Services not to make coverage decisions, determine reim- necessarily those of The Commonwealth Fund bursement rates, establish incentive programs, or design benefits in ways that discriminate or its directors, officers, or staff. against individuals because of their age, disability, or expected length of life. This issue brief examines how this statute will help Americans with disabilities, who currently are subject to discrimination by insurers based on health status and health care need. The authors also discuss the complex issues involved in implementing the essential benefits provision and offer recommendations to federal policymakers for ensuring that people with disabilities receive the full insurance benefits to which they are entitled. For more information about this study, please contact: Overview Sara Rosenbaum, J.D. Chair of the Department of Health Policy When fully implemented in January 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable George Washington University School of Care Act (Affordable Care Act) will transform the health insurance market for Public Health and Health Services
[email protected] people with disabilities, enabling them to secure access to more affordable cover- age.