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Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

links to detailed information about the new law, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2014, and tips for doing academic research on the subject

Library research

checkFor tips on doing research on the ACA in Library resources, see the "Academic Research" tab.

Note that most of the resources, especially the databases, referred to under the "Academic Research" tab are available off-campus for St. Mary's students, faculty, and staff only.

Alternative site

checkConsidering the well-publicized problems with the official government Healthcare.gov, site, you might find this independent plan-finder-site useful. It uses publicly available, vetted data to offer the options available for your zip code, without your having to enter lots of personal information:

Government Resources

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is usually known by a shorter title: the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or by its nickname: Obamacare. Its Public Law number is P.L.111-148; its Statutes at Large citation is 124 Stat. 119. These numbers can be useful in searching some specialized databases.

The law requires that eveyone have health insurance. For people who do not get insurance through their workplace (or who want to improve the coverage offered by their employer) ACA sets up health insurance exchanges to enable them to buy competitively-priced insurance. Some states have set up their own exchanges, but residents of other states—including Texas—will be using federally-run exchanges. See a map in the box below that indicates which states have their own exchanges.

Enrollment in the federal exchanges is through Healthcare.gov:

Other guides to the ACA

Several libraries and other organizations have developed detailed guides to the law:

Health Insurance Marketplaces

map of exchange types

Credits

This guide was originally developed by retired librarian Kathy Amen.