ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The patient protection and affordable care act, also known as Obamacare, is a big law that helps people get health care.

Before Obamacare, many people had problems getting health care because they couldn't afford it, or they had medical conditions that made it hard to get insurance. Obamacare helps fix those problems.

One of the most important things it does is make insurance companies cover people with pre-existing conditions, which means a sickness or injury that happened before they got insurance. That way, people with pre-existing conditions can't be turned down for insurance or charged a lot more.

Obamacare also helps more people get insurance by offering subsidies, or help paying for insurance, to people who can't afford it. And it helps states offer insurance to people who can't get it through their jobs.

Another thing Obamacare does is require most people to have health insurance or pay a fine. This is called the individual mandate. The idea is that if more people have insurance, it will help bring down the cost of health care for everyone.

Finally, Obamacare also requires insurance companies to cover certain things that they didn't before, like birth control and preventive care. And it allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until they turn 26, even if they are out of school or not living at home.

Overall, the patient protection and affordable care act is a big law that helps more people get health care by improving insurance coverage and making it more affordable.