Trends in the Law: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Abstract

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), cited by The New York Times as "the most expansive social legislation enacted in decades" and by opponents as "Obamacare." The bill has been subjected to wide-ranging support and criticism, but much of the discussion on both sides has been inaccurate, misleading, and highly partisan. Between multiple published versions, extensive internal revisions, and a companion bill, this legislation is highly complextogether the bills total 2,562 pages-and confusing. It has also been subject to wide-ranging popular scrutiny. Under those conditions, it is not surprising that the bill has been so widely misunderstood: it has been criticized inaccurately as promoting government-mandated euthanasia and a conspiracy to force the government takeover of health care. It is our hope that the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics can help to fill that gap, serving as legal scholarship's leading examination of this landmark legislation. In doing so, we hope to help satisfy the great curiosity - both global and national - that the bill has sparked.