What Does Obamacare Mean? 
The official name for `` ObamaCare '' is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -LRB- PPACA -RRB- . It is also commonly referred to as Obama care , health care reform and the Affordable Care Act -LRB- ACA -RRB- . The Affordable Care Act -LRB- ACA -RRB- was signed into law to reform the health care industry by President Barack Obama on March 23 , 2010 and upheld by the supreme court on On June 28 , 2012 . The goal of healthcare reform is to give more Americans access to affordable , quality health insurance and to reduce the growth in health care spending in the U.S. . The fact is healthcare reform and the newly opened exchanges do not replace private insurance , Medicare , or Medicaid . If you have health coverage you like , you can keep it . Many of the ACA 's numerous provisions have already been enacted . The rest of the program starts in 2013-2014 and continues to roll out until 2022 . Healthcare reform offers a number of new benefits , rights and protections including the requirement that all new health insurance plans cover preventive services and provide new essential health benefits , this includes everything from yearly check-ups , to maternity care , to mental health , to mammograms and colonoscopies , at no out-of-pocket costs . In addition the ACA includes provisions that let young adults stay on their plan until 26 , stop insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick or if you make an honest mistake on your application , prevent against gender discrimination , stop insurance companies from making unjustified rate hikes , do away with life-time and annual limits , and require all insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions . 