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<onlyinclude>[[Image:obama's signature.jpg|250px|right]] The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. Together with the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act Amendment, the law completely replaced the existing health care system in the United States, expanding Medicaid and Medicare into a universal health insurance overage system, mandating all individuals to sign up for either privately or public funded health insurance.
One important and commonly voiced concern with the Patient Protection and [[Affordable Care Act]] by the media and the bill’s adversaries is that “Obamacare” will kill [[Small Business]] [http://www.investors.com/liberal-study-finds-obamanomics-killed-the-american-entrepreneur/]. The visible effect of Obamacare on small businesses is not necessarily seen in the abandonment of plans to grow businesses or death of businesses themselves, but, rather, in the slowing or decrease in hiring of employees and cutting of employee hours. According to a Gallup and Wells Fargo survey of small business owners, conducted in 2012, 48% of small business owners point toward "potential healthcare costs" as a reason for not hiring more employees [http://www.gallup.com/poll/152654/health-costs-gov-regulations-curb-small-business-hiring.aspx]. So while the ACA may have caused a slowing or ceasing in small business hiring, the actual harm of Obamacare regulations and mandates to small businesses, however, depends heavily on small business size because the effect of Obamacare on small businesses varies so vastly between firms of different composition and size within their workforces (i.e. number of full time employees, average wages, state where the business is operated).
While the SBA has established a summary of the size guidelines for small businesses to qualify "as a small business concern for SBA and most other federal programs" [https://www.sba.gov/contracting/getting-started-contractor/make-sure-you-meet-sba-size-standards/summary-size-standards-industry-sector] (500 employees for mining and manufacturing businesses and an annual receipt of $7.5 in average annual receipts for non-manufacturing firms), the specifications vary between industry. Also, while United States has almost 6 million small businesses that fall under these size restrictions, 90% of these businesses employ fewer than 20 people [http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-small-business/].
