Medical Expense✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
Which of the following best states a central purpose of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance reforms?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The ACA's central purposes are to expand access to health coverage, make it more affordable through subsidies, and add consumer protections — guaranteed issue, the prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions, essential health benefits, and limits on cost-sharing. It preserves a regulated private market rather than replacing it with a single-payer system. These reforms apply across the individual and small-group markets.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The ACA did not eliminate private insurers; it created exchanges of regulated private plans and expanded public programs such as Medi-Cal.
- C) The ACA requires a broad package of essential health benefits, not a catastrophic-only model.
- D) The ACA prohibits health-status rating; premiums may vary only by permitted factors such as age, tobacco use, and geography.
Memory hook
ACA's purpose: more people covered, stronger protections, and a regulated private market.