Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)On March 23, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was was officially signed into law. To some it is more commonly known as Obamacare. The goal of Obamacare is to provide more Americans with quality health insurance and reduce the growth of health care spending in the United States. This change in healthcare has led to a major impact on businesses. Some would say good, some would say bad. The changes and effects on businesses will be discussed in the following essay. First, let's start by talking about what Obamacare actually is. As stated previously, the goal of Obamacare is to provide more Americans with quality health insurance and reduce the growth of health care spending in the United States. It comes with a host of new benefits, rights and protections. For example, young adults can stay on their parents' plans until age 26. It also helps prevent discrimination based on factors such as gender and pre-existing medical conditions. Obamacare itself does not replace your current insurance, or Medicare, or Medicaid. Rather, it regulates health insurance by avoiding malpractices. Now, how does Obamacare affect businesses? To start we'll take a look at the negatives. Some economists worry that over time this could inhibit employment and job growth. It should not affect small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. However, this means that these small businesses may be reluctant to expand beyond the magic number of 50. This hesitancy could lead to the stunting of job growth that economists fear. An example of this was when Darden Restaurants, which owns Red Lobster among other chains, announced that they would begin reducing employment by... middle of paper... lions of Americans will now have access to health care affordable insurance. The number of uninsured Americans is expected to decline due to lower policy rates. Additionally, young people up to age 26 can stay on their parents' plans as explained above. Obamacare also states that insurance companies cannot discriminate against patients with pre-existing medical conditions, which is a benefit for these people. Now let's get into the business aspect of how Obamacare positively impacts businesses. Currently, insurance companies are required to pay for some preventive services. These include but are not limited to mammograms and colonoscopies. This means the government could step in and say it needs to invest more money in preventative procedures involving biotechnology or newer vaccines. How is this good??