A New Era in American Health Care: Realizing the Potential of Reform

Through a pragmatic mix of public and private financing, the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will expand health care coverage, establish health insurance exchanges with market rules that protect individuals and families, and begin to transform the health care system by encouraging greater value and efficiency through a series of payment and delivery system initiatives. In this report, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis outlines the key features of the new reform law, discusses who will be most helped and how, and describes the ways in which the health care system will begin to provide more patient-centered, accessible, and coordinated care to all Americans. Davis also discusses the challenges that will need to be overcome as the law’s provisions are implemented over the coming months and years.