Affordable Care ActIn 2013, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law by U.S. President Obama on 23 Mar 2010, named this day to begin open enrollment for individuals and families. The historic law designed a Health Insurance Marketplace system to provide new options for affordable health insurance to all unincarcerated legal residents in America without it. The need was glaring. According to OECD Health Data(2011 report) for 40 major countries, in the U.S., life expectancy fell below 26 countries (mostly European countries with universal health coverage). Both premature mortality including all ages and the infant mortality rate was worse than 30 countries. The U.S. infant mortality rate was 360% higher than in Iceland. U.S. health expenditure as a share of GDP at almost 20% is more than double the OECD average.«The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a forum for governments, and has 34 member countries. The OECD provides objective analyses and recommendations that are independent and evidence-based, about the economic and social well-being of people around the world. Data cited here is from the 2011 report using the then most recently available data, usually 2009. GDP = Gross Domestic Product. |
