At the 6-Month Mark

On September 23, 2010, six months after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, several key benefits went into effect for health plan years beginning on or after this date.

• Young adults can stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26.
• Insurers can no longer deny coverage to children under 19 because of pre-existing conditions.

• Plans must cover certain preventive services without requiring copayments or deductibles.
• Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on essential benefits and face new restrictions on annual limits.
• Insurance companies’ use of annual dollar limits on coverage is restricted for new plans in the individual market and in all group plans.
• Insurance companies can no longer use innocent errors on customers’ applications to deny payment for services when customers get sick.

Find out when more milestones are set to occur by reading the Affordable Care Act timeline.