The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
informally referred to as
Obamacare,
is a
United States federal statute signed into law by
President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. The law is the principal
health care reform legislation of the
111th United States Congress. PPACA requires individuals not covered by employer- or government-sponsored insurance plans to maintain minimal essential health insurance coverage or pay a penalty unless exempted for religious beliefs or financial hardship, a provision commonly referred to as the "
individual mandate". The Act also reforms certain aspects of the private
health insurance industry and public health insurance programs, increases insurance coverage of
pre-existing conditions, expands access to insurance to 30 million Americans,
and increases projected national medical spending
while lowering projected
Medicare spending.