By Guest Blogger: Erin Hoben, Children’s Defense Fund-New York

As consumers all over the country begin celebrations this week to commemorate the two year anniversary of President Obama’s signing the Affordable Care Act into law, New York’s children and young adults have even more to be happy about.

Since 2010, New York has implemented several of the provisions set out in the ACA.  Under the ACA, insurance companies are barred from imposing lifetime limits on consumers and 1,609,000 children in New York have benefitted from this provision.

Private insurance companies are no longer allowed to require cost-sharing for preventive services.  Since New York implemented this provision, 824,000 of New York’s children have had access to preventive services without cost-sharing through their private insurer.

Further, in November of 2011, New York expanded Medicaid to 133% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for children ages 6-19 in preparation for ACA implementation.  The ACA’s “maintenance of effort” provision requires states to maintain eligibility for children enrolled in the Medicaid program in families earning under 133% of the FPL and in the CHIP program until September 30, 2019.

And in light of the economic crisis where more young adults are finding themselves either unemployed, or employed but without employer-sponsored insurance, the ACA has allowed for them to stay on their parent’s insurance until the age of 26.  As a result, 150,428 young adults in New York have gained insurance coverage since the implementation of this provision.

The ACA has improved the health of New York’s children by ensuring they have access to affordable, quality healthcare.  Please join us in celebrating New York’s achievements this anniversary week by checking the HCFANY website for events in your area.