ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the major health-care problems in the United States that were resulted in legislation to reform health care. It also identifies the major factors that can explain the historical increase in health-care expenditures in the United States. The chapter then discusses the reasons why some people are uninsured and the consequences of being uninsured and the defects in private health insurance that led to passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It illustrates the major characteristics of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was enacted in 2010 to reform the present health-care delivery system. Prior to enactment of the health-care reform law, individual and group coverage typically contained lifetime and annual limits on benefits. The new law extends health-care coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, and provides substantial subsidies to uninsured individuals and small business firms to make health insurance more affordable.
