The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—health care reform—fundamentally changed health insurance and access to health care. The law extends health insurance coverage to an estimated 30 million uninsured Americans. It mandates that nonelderly Americans enroll in health insurance, provides subsidies to those with low incomes, offers tax credits to low-wage employers purchasing health insurance, establishes health insurance exchanges where people can buy private coverage, expands Medicaid eligibility, better regulates private insurers, and creates incentives for more cost-efficient health care systems.
Our researchers are unpacking the landmark law, studying the challenges of implementation, and using our Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model to estimate how its proposals will affect children, seniors, and families, as well as doctors, small businesses, and the national debt.
We were among the first to assess the effects of Medicaid expansion on states and the nation as a whole. Our researchers estimate, for example, that under health care reform, the share of uninsured nonelderly adults would decline by 27.8 million, the cost of uncompensated care for the uninsured would drop by 61 percent, and Medicaid expansion would enroll 16.8 million more people.
The Urban Institute also studies cost, coverage, and reform options for Medicare and Medicaid and analyzes trends and underlying causes of changes in health insurance coverage, access to care, and Americans’ use of health care services.
Publications
The Urban Institute disseminates many health care research publications.
Latest Research
