One of the primary goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to place a greater emphasis on Preventative Care, which is why all plans now cover those services with no out of pocket cost sharing. Another area is improved patient care and treatment outcomes by moving from the "fee for service" compensation model to one that rewards providers that deliver a higher level of care and treatment outcomes that will ultimately lower the cost of medical care.

One little known program funded by the ACA is the "Comprehensive Primary Care" initiative. There are approximately 500 practices across the country participating in this program.  Practices were selected on a number of factors, including their past willingness to participate in such things as NCQA quality recognition, and patient-centered medical home (PCMH) certification. Basically, the CMS (Centers for Medicare Services) provides funding outside the fee-for-service environment for practices that do a better job at chronic disease management.  You can learn more about this program here: http://innovation.cms.gov

Say what you will about the Affordable Care Act, but my experience so far tells me that while this law is highly complex and controversial, in time it will prove to accomplish what it set out to do - lower overall healthcare costs and provide coverage for millions of Americans that at one time were basically shut out of the system.