HEALTH CARE REFORM

摘要

The "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" might not ring any bells, but that's the official name of the health care reform law more often called "Obamacare." After months of back-and-forth among lawmakers and lobbyists in 2009 and 2010, this massive bill passed both houses of Congress, and President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010. Its advocates assert that the law will make health insurance and health care more affordable and accessible to millions of Americans; its critics maintain that the law is a government intrusion into the private health insurance market and health care system and that its mandate that almost every U.S. taxpayer purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.