July 15, 2011: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have far-reaching effects on health insurance coverage, health care financing, and delivery in the United States. Understanding the state-level implications of the ACA allows for better understanding of the national impact of the law and provides information to shape ongoing state implementation activities.
This week SHADAC released "A Framework for Tracking the Impacts of the Affordable Care Act in California." This report makes recommendations for how California can measure the impact of health reform in three areas:
- Health insurance coverage;
- Affordability and comprehensiveness of health insurance coverage; and
- Access to health care services.
Within each of these areas, the report identifies metrics needed to monitor the impacts of the ACA. We review existing state-specific and national data sources to determine how each source might be used to measure the effects of the ACA in California. In addition, we identify gaps in the data needed to monitor the impacts of reform, and make recommendations for how to fill these gaps.
This measurement framework, assessment of existing data sources, and identification of gaps in existing data can also inform efforts to monitor the impacts of the ACA at the national level and in other states.