Two Years Later: The Benefits of the Affordable Care Act for American Samoa

For too long, too many hardworking Americans paid the price for policies that handed free rein to insurance companies and put barriers between patients and their doctors. The Affordable Care Act gives hardworking families in American Samoa the security they deserve. La nueva ley de Cuidado de Salud obliga las compañías de seguros a actuar según las normas puesto que le prohíbe que dejen de brindarle cobertura si usted se enferma, que le facturen hasta dejarlo en bancarrota debido a límites anuales o de por vida, y en breve, que discriminen a cualquier persona con una afección preexistente.

Todos los estadounidenses tendrán la seguridad de saber que no tienen que preocuparse por perder la cobertura si son despedidos o cambian de trabajo.  And insurance companies now have to cover your preventive care like mammograms and other cancer screenings. La nueva ley también realiza importantes inversiones en esfuerzos estatales y comunitarios que promueven la salud pública, previenen las enfermedades y protegen contra emergencias de salud pública.

La reforma de salud ya está marcando la diferencia para los residentes de American Samoa en:

Scrutinizing unreasonable premium increases
In every State and for the first time under Federal law, insurance companies are required to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10 percent or more. American Samoa has received $1 million under the new law to help fight unreasonable premium increases.

Supporting American Samoa’s work on Intercambios de seguros asequibles
American Samoa has received $1 million in grants for research, planning, information technology development, and implementation of Affordable Insurance Exchanges.

• $1 millón en subsidios para planificación: Este subsidio le brinda a American Samoa los recursos que necesita para realizar la investigación y la planificación necesaria, crear un mejor mercado de los seguros de salud y determinar cómo se aplicarán y regularán los intercambios. Learn how the funds are being used in American Samoa aquí. 

Preventing illness and promoting health
Since 2010, American Samoa has received $600,000 in grants from the Prevention and Public Health Fund created by the Affordable Care Act. This new fund was created to support effective policies in American Samoa, its communities, and nationwide so that all Americans can lead longer, more productive lives.

Increasing support for community health center
The Affordable Care Act increases the funding available to community health centers in all 50 states, and including the 3 existing community health centers in American Samoa. Health centers in American Samoa have received $1.1 million to create new health center sites in medically underserved areas, enable health centers to increase the number of patients served, expand preventive and primary health care services, and/or support major construction and renovation projects.

Strengthening partnerships with American Samoa
The law gives states support for their work to build the health care workforce, crack down on fraud, and support public health. So far, American Samoa has received more than $5.2 million from the Affordable Care Act. Examples of Affordable Care Act grants not outlined above to American Samoa include:

• $1.5 millones para Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs. These programs bring health professionals to meet with at-risk families in their homes and connect families to the kinds of help that can make a real difference in a child’s health, development, and ability to learn - such as health care, early education, parenting skills, child abuse prevention, and nutrition.

Última actualización: 15 de marzo de 2012

Volver al mapa