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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 coverage system and also mandating all individuals to sign up for either privately or publicly funded health insurance coverage through a Qualified Health Plan.
One important concern with the Patient Protection and [[Affordable Care Act]] by 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 a slowing or halting in hiring of employees and cutting of 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].
Still, while the ACA may have caused a slowing or ceasing in small business hiring, the precise harm of Obamacare regulations and mandates to small businesses depends heavily on small business size because the effects of Obamacare on businesses varies so vastly between firms of different compositions and sizes in their workforces (i.e. number of full time employees, average wages, state of operation).
