Treatment and recovery support services for Substance Use Disorders are covered under ACA. This means that millions of people who have not been able to access services for addiction either because they were underinsured or not insured will now have access to medical help.

The Affordable Care Act ensures health plans offered in the individual and small group markets, both inside and outside of the Health Insurance Marketplace, offer a comprehensive package of items and services, known as essential health benefits. Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment are included.

Insurance policies must cover these benefits in order to be certified and offered in the Health Insurance Marketplace, and all Medicaid state plans must cover these services by 2014.

Health insurance, primarily through its coverage of preventive care services, helps you protect your health and well-being. It also limits your risk of paying for very expensive health care services. Here's how health insurance works for most people: You choose a plan based on the cost of the plan and services it covers. For most plans, you will pay a premium to your health insurance company. This is a fixed amount you pay each month. You also may pay each time you get care from a doctor or hospital, have a prescription filled, or get some type of medical care. These payments are frequently referred to as cost-sharing. How much you pay, and when you pay these fees, varies depending on your health plan.

With health care reform, this model will still exist. However, many things about health insurance are changing. Here are some of the changes that are taking place as part of the new health care law:

• People will be required to have health insurance.
• Health plans offered to people who purchase health insurance on their own and those that get benefits from an employer with 50 or fewer employees must include 10 core benefits, known as essential health benefits.
• Many single people and working families may receive assistance from the government to help pay their health care coverage costs. This includes many people who the government does not help now.
• Many state Medical Assistance programs, also known as Medicaid, are expanding by offering health plans to more people who are uninsured.*
• There is also a new way to buy health insurance: the Health Insurance Marketplace.
• Rates for individual and small group plans (50 or fewer employees) will be based on who will be covered under the health plan, their age, where they live, whether they smoke, and the health plan selected.

* The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has decided to not participate in Medicaid Expansion. The Commonwealth’s Healthy PA proposal was approved on August 28, 2014. Details are still unfolding. The good news is 500,000 to 600,000 Penssylvanians who were not eligible for coverage will now qualify for insurance. Differing from Mediciad Expansion there may be preniums because Healthy PA is part of the private insurance system. (http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/healthypa/index.htm)

The Marketplace is a way to find health coverage that fits your budget and meets your needs. With one application, you can see all your options and enroll.

When you use the Health Insurance Marketplace, you'll fill out an application and see all of the health plans available in your area. You'll find out if you can get lower costs on your monthly premiums for private insurance plans. You'll learn if you qualify for lower out-of-pocket costs.

For more information Click Here

No matter what state you live in, you'll be able to use the Marketplace to apply for coverage, compare your options, and enroll.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare), you can apply online through healthcare.gov use printed applications or use the help of a Certified Navigator

For Pennsylvanians Medicaid and CHIP enrollment is not available through healthcare.gov. You should still apply online in the Marketplace and the system will tell you whether you qualify for Medicaid or CHIP programs. Information about both programs, as well as online application, is available here. For more information Click Here

Most people will be eligible for health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace. To be eligible for health coverage through the Marketplace, you:

• must live in the United States
• must be a U.S. citizen or national (or be lawfully present)
• can't be currently incarcerated

U.S. citizens living in a foreign country are not required to get health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. If you're uninsured and living abroad, you don't have to pay the fee that other uninsured U.S. citizens may have to pay.

Generally, health insurance coverage in the Marketplace covers health care provided by doctors, hospitals, and medical services within the United States. If you're living abroad, it's important to know this before you consider buying Marketplace insurance.

Questions? Call 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (TTY: 1-855-889-4325)

Starting in 2014, all health plans must offer essential health benefits. But the only way to get lower costs based on income is through the Marketplace. All plans will offer essential health benefits.

Starting in 2014, no matter how you buy your health insurance - through the Marketplace, directly from an insurance company, or with the help of an agent or broker--all plans for individuals and small groups must cover the same set of essential health benefits. They include doctor's visits, hospital stays, preventive services, prescription drugs, mental health, and other categories of coverage.

Plans will not be able to charge you more or refuse to cover you if you have a pre-existing condition. Most plans also must offer the consumer rights and protections provided under the health care law.

Prices will be available October 1, 2013, when open enrollment starts and you can begin shopping.

All insurance plans available through the Marketplace will be offered by private insurance companies. They will decide which plans to offer and how much each will cost. All Marketplace plans must be approved by state insurance departments and certified by the Marketplace. Prices are approved by state insurance departments as required by state law. When you use the Marketplace to compare plans you'll see prices for all plans available to you. Prices will show any cost savings you may be eligible for based on your income. These lower costs are available only in the Marketplace.

You can find a rough estimate of costs and savings by using the Kaiser Family Foundation calculator. For more information Click Here.

Starting in 2014, health insurance plans can't refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a pre-existing health condition.

Starting in 2014, being sick won't keep you from getting health coverage. An insurance company can't turn you down or charge you more because of your condition.

Once you have insurance, it can't refuse to cover treatment for pre-existing conditions. Coverage for your pre-existing conditions begins immediately.

This is true even if you have been turned down or refused coverage due to a pre-existing condition in the past.

The only exception is for grandfathered individual health insurance plans--the kind you buy yourself, not through an employer. They do not have to cover pre-existing conditions.

If you have one of these plans you can switch to a Marketplace plan during open enrollment and immediately get coverage for your pre-existing conditions.

Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program(CHIP) also can't refuse to cover you or charge you more because of a health condition. Questions? Call 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (TTY: 1-855-889-4325)

You can call the 800 number, 1-800.318.2596 (24/7) and tell them you need in-person assistance and they will give you a referral. Or you can go to www.localhelp.healthcare.gov , input your zipcode and you will get a local listing of organization who can help you.

On August 28,2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced their approval of Governor Corbett’s Medicaid Expansion alternative, Healthy Pennsylvania.

The modified version of Healthy PA leaves Pennsylvania’s current Medicaid program mostly intact, and will extend health care coverage to more than half-a-million Pennsylvanians. Beginning January 1st, 2015, individuals and families with incomes below 138% of the federal poverty level will be eligible to enroll in health insurance offered by private Medicaid Managed Care companies in a new system run by the Commonwealth.

Enrollment will begin December 1, 2014. At this time it is not clear whether applicants will go through the Marketplace or through a separate Pennsylvania system. Details to come.

If someone can afford it but doesn't have health insurance coverage in 2014, they may have to pay a fee. They must also pay for all of their care.

When an uninsured person requires urgent - often expensive - medical care but doesn't pay the bill, everyone else ends up paying the price. That's why the health care law requires all people who can afford it to take responsibility for their own health insurance by getting coverage or paying a penalty. People without health coverage will also have to pay the entire cost of all their medical care. They won't be protected from the kind of very high medical bills that can sometimes lead to bankruptcy.

The fee in 2014 is 1% of your yearly income or $95 per person for the year, whichever is higher. The fee increases every year. In 2016 it is 2.5% of income or $695 per person, whichever is higher. In 2014 the fee for uninsured children is $47.50 per child. The most a family would have to pay in 2014 is $285. It's important to remember that someone who pays the fee won't get any health insurance coverage. They still will be responsible for 100% of the cost of their medical care. After open enrollment ends on March 31, 2014, they won't be able to get health coverage through the Marketplace until the next annual enrollment period, unless they have a qualifying life event.

To avoid the fee in 2014 you need insurance that qualifies as minimum essential coverage. If you're covered by any of the following in 2014, you're considered covered and don't have to pay a penalty:

• Any Marketplace plan, or any individual insurance plan you already have
• Any employer plan (including COBRA), with or without “grandfathered". This includes retiree plans
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
• TRICARE (for veterans and veteran families)
• Veterans health care programs
• Peace Corps Volunteer plans

Other plans may also qualify. Ask your health coverage provider.

Uninsured people won't have to pay a fee if they:

• are uninsured for less than 3 months of the year
• are determined to have very low income and coverage is considered unaffordable
• are not required to file a tax return because their income is too low
• would qualify under the new income limits for Medicaid, but their state has chosen not to expand Medicaid eligibility
• are a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe
• participate in a health care sharing ministry
• are a member of a recognized religious sect with religious objections to health insurance

If you don't qualify for these situations, you can apply for an exemption asking not to pay a fee. You do this in the Marketplace.

Health plans that don't meet minimum essential coverage don't qualify as coverage in 2014. If you have only these types of coverage, you may have to pay the fee. Examples include:

• coverage only for vision care or dental care
• workers' compensation
• coverage only for a specific disease or condition
• plans that offer only discounts on medical services

If you're self-employed with no employees, you're not considered an employer. You can use the individual Marketplace to find coverage that fits your needs.

If you run an income-generating business with no employees, then you're considered self-employed (not an employer) and can get coverage through the Marketplace. You're not considered an employer even if you hire independent contractors to do some work.

If you have employees (generally, workers whose income you report on a W-2 at the end of the year) you're considered an employer. Then you could get coverage for yourself and your employees through the SHOP Marketplace.

Learn more about how to determine if you have employees.

For more information Click Here

The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) is a new program that simplifies the process of buying health insurance for your small business. For 2014, the SHOP Marketplace is open to employers with 50 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees (FTEs). The advantages of using SHOP include:

• You control the coverage you offer and how much you pay toward employee premiums.
• You can compare health plans online on an apples-to-apples basis, which helps you make a decision that's right for your business.
• You may qualify for a small business health care tax credit worth up to 50% of your premium costs. You can still deduct from your taxes the rest of your premium costs not covered by the tax credit. Beginning 2014 the tax credit is available only for plans purchased through SHOP.

The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) is designed for small employers with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. With one online application, on your own or with the help of an agent, broker, or other assister, you can compare price, coverage, and quality of plans in a way that's easy to understand. You can enroll starting October 1, 2013 for coverage starting as soon as January 1, 2014. You can also enroll and begin coverage any time after January 1, 2014.

• You decide what you'll pay toward employee premiums, and then your employees can enroll.
• There will be a SHOP Marketplace in each state. You must have an office or employee work site within the SHOP's service area to use that particular SHOP. The online application will guide you to the right SHOP for you.

• In 2014, SHOP is open to employers with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Beginning in 2016, all SHOPs will be open to employers with up to 100 FTEs: If you're self-employed with no employees, you can get coverage through the individual market Health Insurance Marketplace, but not through SHOP.
• If you plan to use SHOP, you must offer coverage to all of your full-time employees–generally those working 30 or more hours per week on average.
• In many states, at least 70% of your full-time employees must enroll in your SHOP plan. See “How many of my employees must enroll in SHOP?" on the dropdown menu below for more information.

Have questions about the SHOP Marketplace for businesses with 50 or fewer employees? Call 1-800-706-7893 (TTY users: 1-800-706-7915). Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.