Even though the ACA expanded the coverage of Medicaid, it was only for “most low-income adults to 138% of the federal poverty level” (State Health Facts, 2015) thus, still leaving some of the economically diverse population, as they continue to fall through the cracks because they do not qualify Medicaid. In June of 2012, the decision of the Supreme Court authorized each individual state to make their own decision, as to whether or not comply with the ACA Medicaid expansion reform. Only thirty-one states have adapted the Medicaid expansion, as of September 1, 2015. This means that an average of “3.6 million Americans who would have likely received Medicaid coverage under the new rules remain uninsured today because they live in states that opted out of the Medicaid expansion” (Brodwin, 2014). This leaves the poor and Medicaid population being group stereotyped against because of the various states who did not embrace the voluntary expansion to help and assist the poor population and also, the Medicaid population who will face the challenges of locating medical doctors and facilities who are not accepting Medicaid recipients, which the government currently has no plans in place to detour this from …show more content…
This is why provisional stages of reform were implemented starting when the Affordable Care Act was enacted into law on March 23, 2010 and to continue each year through the year of 2022. The policy initially and immediately implemented the following reforms: eliminating “lifetime and unreasonable annual limits on benefits, [p]rohibit rescissions of health insurance policies, [p]rovide assistance for those who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition, [r]equire coverage of preventive services and immunizations, [e]xtend dependent coverage up to age 26,[d]evelop uniform coverage documents so consumers can make apples-to-apples comparisons when shopping for health insurance, [c]ap insurance company non-medical, administrative expenditures, [e]nsuring consumers have access to an effective appeals process and provide consumer a place to turn for assistance navigating the appeals process and accessing their coverage, [c]reating a temporary re-insurance program to support coverage for early retirees, [e]stablish an internet portal to assist Americans in identifying coverage options, and [f]acilitate administrative simplification to lower health system costs” (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). All of the 2010 reforms were successfully and effectively