Affordable Care Act (ACA) - Glossary (2024)

The comprehensive health care reform law was enacted in March 2010.

The law has 3 primary goals:

• Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (the “premium tax credit”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the

  A measure of income issued every year by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Federal poverty levels are used to determine your eligibility for certain programs and benefits, including savings on Marketplace health insurance, and Medicaid and CHIP coverage.

  Refer to glossary for more details.

  (FPL).
  • If your income is above 400% FPL, you may still qualify for the premium tax credit.
  • If your income is at or below 150% FPL, you may qualify to enroll in or change Marketplace coverage through a Special Enrollment Period.
• Expand Medicaid to cover all adults with income below 138% of the FPL. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.)
• Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.

Related content

• Read the Affordable Care Act
• Rights & protections under the health care law
• Check if you'll save