O

Obamacare

Commonly used political shorthand for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the 2010 health care reform law signed by President Obama; also referred to as the Affordable Care Act or ACA.

Occupational Therapy

Treatment and rehabilitation that helps a patient perform meaningful activities of daily life.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Assists the President in preparing the budget and measures the quality of agency programs, policies and procedures to evaluate if they comply with the President's policies.

Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

Office focused on identifying, auditing and investing fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement within the parent agency

Open Enrollment

Time period during which employees or individual market consumers can change their insurance plans or enroll in new ones.

Outcomes

Measures of the medical effectiveness of certain treatments or procedures.

Out-of-area Coverage

Insurance coverage sometimes provided by health plans for services outside the enrollee's geographical coverage area.

Out-of-network

Heath care providers not within an insurance plan's approved network of care providers.

Out-of-Pocket Costs

Health care costs that include deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance that are not already covered by the individual's insurance.

Out-of-Pocket Maximum

A cap on the amount of money per year that individuals might pay for health care costs, excluding the premium cost. All costs above the out-of-pocket maximum are paid by the insurance plan.

Acute Episodes of Care

Timeframe encompassing the treatment period for a major health problem. These episodes are most commonly surrounding surgery and include pre- and post- surgical tests and…