or copayments, also reduce the likelihood that preventive services will be used. Despite the ACA's enhancement of Medicare benefits and preventive services, there were no effects on preventive service utilization, calling out the fact that other fundamental barriers exist. Affordable Care Act and preventive healthcare The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as just the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, was passed and became law in the United States on March 23, 2010. The finalized and newly ratified law was to address many issues in the U.S. healthcare system, which included expansion of coverage, insurance market reforms, better quality, and the forecast of efficiency and costs. Under the insurance market reforms the act required that insurance companies no longer exclude people with pre-existing conditions, allow for children to be covered on their parents' plan until the age of 26, and expand appeals that dealt with reimbursement denials. The Affordable Care Act also banned the limited coverage imposed by health insurances, and insurance companies were to include coverage for preventive health care services. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has categorized and rated preventive health services as either A or B, as to which insurance companies must comply and present full coverage. Not only has the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force provided graded preventive health services that are appropriate for coverage, they have also provided many recommendations to clinicians and insurers to promote better preventive care to ultimately provide better quality of care and lower the burden of costs. Health insurance Healthcare insurance companies are willing to pay for preventive care despite the fact that patients are not acutely sick in hope that it will prevent them from developing a chronic disease later on in life. Today, health insurance plans offered through the Marketplace, mandated by the Affordable Care Act are required to provide certain preventive care services free of charge to patients. Section 2713 of the Affordable Care Act, specifies that all private Marketplace and all employer-sponsored private plans (except those grandfathered in) are required to cover preventive care services that are ranked A or B by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force free of charge to patients. UnitedHealthcare insurance company has published patient guidelines at the beginning of the year explaining their preventive care coverage. Evaluating incremental benefits Evaluating the incremental benefits of preventive care requires a longer period of time when compared to acutely ill patients.