Which statement best describes a primary purpose of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The ACA was enacted to expand access to affordable coverage and strengthen consumer protections in the private insurance market. It created the health benefit exchanges, income-based premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions, guaranteed issue rules, and the prohibition on preexisting condition exclusions for individual and group coverage. It also required essential health benefits, restricted rescission and annual dollar limits, and allowed young adults to stay on a parent's plan until age 26. Rather than creating a single government program, the ACA preserved a private insurance market that is more tightly regulated and more accessible.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The ACA retains private insurers and exchanges; it does not replace private insurance with a single-payer government program.
- C) The ACA relies on and continues employer-sponsored coverage, which remains the primary source of coverage for workers.
- D) The ACA requires a defined package of essential health benefits; it expands covered benefits rather than stripping coverage away.
Memory hook
ACA's twin goals: widen the door to coverage and put guardrails around the insurance market.