The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Implications for Public Health Policy and Practice

130  Public Health Reports / January–February 2011 / Volume 126 This installment of Law and the Public’s Health provides an overview of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law on March 23, 2010. The Act represents a watershed in U.S. public health policy. When fully implemented, its insurance reforms are expected to lead to coverage of 94% of the population, and its health-care provisions lay the groundwork for the fundamental transformation of the health-care system.