The PPACA established and mandated a standard minimum for care, regulated health coverage practices and entities, and expanded public Medicare and Medicaid programs. The statute further established a legislative precedent that has been resoundingly evoked by the healthcare policy platforms of candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden over a decade later. At the same time, the PPACA has proven remarkably controversial, drawing criticism for its emphatic incentivization of public healthcare at the state level and mandation of coverage at the individual level. As evidenced by the dozens of consequential lawsuits brought before the Roberts Court as a result of the PPACA, the future of universal healthcare remains legally contentious.

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