Key Features of the Law

The health care law offers clear choices for consumers and provides new ways to hold insurance companies accountable. The most important parts of the law are broken into groups below. We’ll highlight new features of the law here as they roll out between now and 2014.

Rights and Protections

Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) and Uniform Glossary
Consumer Assistance Program
Appealing Health Plan Decisions
Preventive Care
Patient’s Bill of Rights
Children’s Pre-Existing Conditions
Doctor Choice & ER Access
Grandfathered Health Plans
Curbing Insurance Cancellations

Insurance Choices

Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP)
Young Adult Coverage
The Health Insurance Marketplace
CO-OP Insurance Plans

Insurance Costs

Value for Your Premium Dollar: 80/20 Rule and MLR
Lifetime and Annual Limits
Flexible Spending Account Changes
Rate Review

65 or Older

Medicare Preventive Services
Medicare Drug Discounts
$250 “Donut Hole” Rebate (2010)
Strengthening Medicare

Employers

Small Employer Tax Credits
Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP)

If you need help dealing with your insurance, finding insurance, or getting answers to questions about how the health care system works, visit the Insurance Basics section.