Enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010 begins today. People who sign up for insurance will begin receiving coverage Jan. 1, 2014. 

Dr. Elizabeth Miller, medical director at Student Health Services, said the changes implemented today are unlikely to significantly affect most students at N.C. State because of the previously implemented requirement that full-time students purchase health insurance. However, Miller said that it could affect part-time students who aren’t eligible for the University-sponsored insurance. 

“It will allow [part-time students] to purchase reduced cost insurance,” Miller said. 

Miller said there are a few specific benefits to students. For example, parents can now keep their children on their insurance until age 26, students with pre-existing conditions will not be denied coverage, and insurance companies will not be able to drop patients with expensive illnesses.

According to Healthcare.gov, a federal government website managed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 15 preventative services will be available free of charge, regardless of whether or not a patient has already met his or her deductible. These include depression screening, diet counseling, alcohol misuse screening and immunizations for Influenza, Meningitis and Human Papillomavirus. 

Healthcare.gov also lists 22 preventative services specifically to women, which will also be free of charge. This includes Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods, an item still hotly debated by Congress. 

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website, North Carolina has received $87,357,315 in grants for research, planning, information technology development and implementation of its Health Insurance Marketplace.

In the end, Miller has a good outlook about the upcoming changes. 

“Overall, students will benefit,” Miller said.