Implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA): A Roadmap for People with Disabilities

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of the most significant and widely debated pieces of healthcare legislation in generations, and it has altered the way that people with disabilities will receive health care and ancillary services for generations to come. Implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA): A Roadmap for People with Disabilities is the first in a series of three reports regarding the implementation, impact, and enforcement of ACA.

This first report in the series provides a roadmap for monitoring the implementation of ACA and for making sure that this important federal law supports the outcomes the disability community has prioritized. The report seeks to:

• Provide an overview of future healthcare implementation decisions that must be made by both private insurers and state and federal officials;
• Outline approaches to maximizing ACA’s positive impact on people with disabilities while limiting risks to the disability community that could result from unwise implementation choices; and
• Evaluate the policy options facing states as they consider expanding and reconfiguring Medicaid.