Which population is likely to benefit most from the ACA's expansion of coverage?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was primarily designed to expand health insurance coverage to those who historically faced barriers to obtaining it, particularly low-income families and individuals. This demographic typically includes people who may not have had access to affordable health insurance options due to financial constraints, pre-existing conditions, or living in states that did not expand Medicaid.

The ACA included provisions such as the expansion of Medicaid eligibility, which allows more low-income individuals to gain health coverage. Additionally, through the creation of health insurance marketplaces, individuals and families could access subsidies to make purchasing insurance more affordable. Because of these significant improvements in coverage and affordability, low-income families and individuals gain the most substantial benefit from the ACA's objectives.

Affluent individuals with private insurance and parents with private insurance plans are less likely to benefit from the ACA's expansion efforts because they mostly already have access to suitable healthcare options. Employers with more than 50 employees, while affected by the ACA due to requirements to provide insurance, do not directly benefit from the expansion of coverage in the same way that low-income individuals do, as their employees already typically have access to employer-sponsored health insurance.