Health Insurance Basics
What is a health insurance lifetime maximum?
The ACA eliminated lifetime maximums on essential health benefits. Before the ACA, plans could impose a lifetime maximum on benefits — once you reached the maximum, the plan would no longer pay for covered services. The ACA prohibits lifetime maximums on essential health benefits for all ACA-compliant plans.
Key Points
- ACA eliminated lifetime maximums on essential health benefits
- Before ACA: plans could impose lifetime maximums
- ACA-compliant plans: cannot impose lifetime maximums on essential health benefits
- Grandfathered plans: may still have lifetime maximums
- An independent agent can help you find ACA-compliant plans without lifetime maximums