The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law March 23, 2010, represents the most sweeping federal health reform legislation since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. In the ensuing decade, the ACA has led to greater federal government control over the health care system through its mandates, subsidies, and taxes, leading to much higher costs and spending and fewer choices of plans, doctors, and hospitals. This important paper by Galen experts who have followed every aspect of the law’s implementation provides an overview of the damage it has done to the individual health insurance market and the vast expansion of welfare through the Medicaid program. The paper also outlines the positive steps taken by the Trump administration to increase health care options and improve the individual market and concludes with recommendations to Congress to help markets recover by devolving more power and resources to states to expand options for more affordable coverage.
