The Social, Economic and Political Effects of the Affordable Care Act

This initiative is carried out in collaboration with and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 represents the most significant reform of the U.S. health care system in decades. It was enacted with the goals of increasing access to health insurance, enhancing the quality of care and moderating the growth in costs. The new law is likely to have far reaching effects, beyond the way health insurance markets operate and beyond its impact on population health outcomes. It is those other social, economic and political effects of the ACA that we seek to understand.