ACA Helping to Keep Patients Healthy, Safe in American Hospitals

A major goal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the landmark health care reform law that was passed and signed by President Obama in 2010, is to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable health coverage. To date, millions of Americans have accessed health insurance through competitive marketplaces—and insurance companies have been prohibited from denying them coverage due to a so-called “pre-existing condition” or suddenly canceling their policies based on arbitrary coverage limits, which used to be common practices. Many people have even received financial help to help cover the cost of their insurance.

But that’s just the start.

The ACA also aims to improve patient safety and cut down on health care costs nationwide. Through a number of initiatives, the law is helping to keep more people healthy, reduce hospital stays, and avoid harmful mistakes that can hurt patients and result in unnecessary costs.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services details the impact that the ACA has had on improving patient safety during hospital stays. Between 2010 and 2013, many hospitals were making a concerted effort to reduce adverse events, due in part to ACA provisions that provide payment incentives for improving the quality of care. As a result, there were huge benefits for patients, including:

• 50,000 deaths averted,
• 1.3 million fewer patients harmed in hospitals—that’s a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions, such as infections or adverse reactions to medication, and
• $12 billion in health spending avoided.

That means that substantially fewer people saw their trip to the hospital compounded by a preventable, costly, harmful—or even deadly—hospital-acquired condition.

That’s one more way in which the ACA is making historic progress toward improving health care for all Americans.