In March 2010, the US Congress passed HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and HR 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. President Barack Obama signed them both into law, along with Executive Order 13535 restricting federal funds from being used for abortion services.
Proponents of the health care legislation have called it a "historic victory" and "landmark legislation" that reforms the US health care system by reigning in health care costs, making health care affordable, and protecting consumers from unfair insurance practices. They say the law will reduce the nation's deficit by more than $100 billion by 2020 and by $1 trillion by 2030.
Opponents have called it a "socialist" and "unconstitutional" government takeover of the health care system that will increase the cost of health care and decrease the quality. They say the law will cost more than $2.5 trillion over 10 years and drive the US deeper into debt. Several congressional representatives and special interest groups have initiated attempts to repeal HR 3590. Read more...
Health Care Reform ProCon.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit website that presents facts, studies, and pro and con statements on questions related to the 2010 health care reforms in the US. Many of the questions below are debated with pro and con responses. However, several of the questions are not debated and contain only pros or only cons. For these questions we have provided an Editor's Note in the empty column explaining that we have been unable to find an opposing viewpoint on these specific questions.
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