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The Impact Of The Affordable Care Act On North Carolina's Uninsured Population

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The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on North Carolina 's Uninsured Population
Introduction
Prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), North Carolina’s (NC) uninsured population in 2009 was estimated at 1.7 million people under the age of 65. This equates to 20.4% of the population (Milstead, 2013).
The purpose of this paper is to determine if the ACA changes implemented during the last five years is assisting the residents of NC to find and secure affordable health care insurance and subsequent access to care.
Impact on North Carolina’s Uninsured Population The largest change in health care insurance and delivery system for the United States was the realization of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The PPACA plan of execution included yearly mandates beginning in 2010. One of the largest of these phases happened in 2014 when the individual mandate occurred and every individual was required by law to have a health insurance (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2015).
Prior to 2014, NC’s uninsured and uninsurable populations were staggeringly high. Medicaid and the NC Healthy Choice (NCHC) safety net programs are state-run plans with their own unique coverage laws. NCHC is not considered an entitlement program so children could be placed on a wait list until additional funds were found for this program. This left many children without healthcare coverage. In 2009, NC’s Medicaid and NCHC program laws made it impossible

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