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For too long, too many hard working 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 families the security they deserve. The new health care law forces insurance companies to play by the rules, prohibiting them from dropping your coverage if you get sick, billing you into bankruptcy because of an annual or lifetime limit, or, soon, discriminating against anyone with a pre-existing condition.
The new law also includes a number of key provisions designed to help make health care more affordable – and help address the drivers of health care costs. The new health care law is already making a difference. Many Americans are seeing lower costs, and health care spending growth in 2009 and 2010 decreased to record lows.
Here are more ways the law helps control costs for families and small businesses:
Find out why Mark, who owns a home-and-garden shop in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, says health care reform has helped him create more jobs in his community.
Learn more about how the Affordable Care Act is helping Americans: