Digital Inclusion and the Affordable Care Act: Public Libraries, Politics, Policy, and Enrollment in “Obamacare”

The period of enrollment in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” positioned public libraries as a primary place for enrollment for individuals lacking sufficient levels of access or literacy to enroll on their own. Inclusion also thrust public libraries into the middle of a significant political and policy fray about the appropriateness and content of the law that encompassed national, state, and local politics. Building on the data from a national survey of the digital inclusion roles of public libraries, this article examines the health literacy and inclusion roles and initiatives of public libraries within the highly politicized context of health care following the passage of the ACA.