Obamacare

Popular name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a major reform of health insurance signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010. Opponents of the Act have long used Obamacare as a pejorative term, while others prefer the term "Affordable Care Act". In 2011, however, Obama himself embraced the use of the word.

While it retains its negative connotation in many contexts, Obamacare is also used more neutrally as a simple shorthand for the Act’s official name.