The primary purpose of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA/ACA) is to:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
The Affordable Care Act was enacted to expand access to affordable health insurance — through guaranteed issue, the health insurance exchanges, premium tax credits, and Medicaid expansion — while protecting consumers through rules such as essential health benefits, metal tiers, and medical loss ratio requirements, and restraining the growth of health care costs. It did not replace Medicare or abolish state regulation; instead it layered federal market reforms onto the state-regulated insurance system while states continued to operate their own exchanges.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The ACA kept Medicare intact and added reforms to the Medicare program; it did not replace it with vouchers.
- C) States, including California, continue to regulate insurers and operate their own exchanges; the ACA did not end state regulation.
- D) The ACA imposed an employer mandate on applicable large employers but never required self-insurance, and most employers remain fully insured.
Memory hook
ACA = access for more people, fairer rules, and cost controls — not a takeover of Medicare or state regulation.