--- description: The Affordable Care Act was signed on March 23, 2010 title: Obamacare Affordable Care Act Anniversary: 5 Year Check-Up for the Law image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2a6b6ecb2edd71/698783cf06f2c1513e33472a/1101100405_400.jpg?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [politics](/tag/politics/) ## politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'We Need to Get This Right': Obamacare Turns Five  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 23, 2015 10:00 AM CUT  The April 5, 2010, cover of TIME The April 5, 2010, cover of TIMECover Credit: PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY ANN ELLIOTT CUTTING FOR TIME. INSET: BRYCE DUFFY FOR TIME.  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 23, 2015 10:00 AM CUT When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, it was obvious that making “Obamacare” official was still only the beginning of the law’s story. “Now for the really hard part,” TIME proclaimed in a cover story about the new law. Looking back at that story by Karen Tumulty and Kate Pickert that announced the law’s arrival, it’s noteworthy just how tempered expectations were. As TIME explained: --- > “” --- The charts that accompanied the 2010 story included predictions for 2019\. There number of uninsured Americans was predicted to drop by 28 million — from 50 million at the time of publication, to 22 million — during that time. If those changes happened steadily over the intervening nine years, about 15 and a half million Americans would have gained insurance in the first five years. Just last week, the Department of Health and Human Services [announced](http://time.com/3745948/obamacare-uninsured/ "undefined") that about 16.4 million previously uninsured people have already gained insurance since the law was passed. **_Read TIME’s 2010 cover story about the new health-care law, here in the TIME Vault:_** [What Health Care Means for You](http://time.com/vault/issue/2010-04-05/page/1/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3746585/obamacare-2010/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3746585/obamacare-2010/"},"headline":"'We Need to Get This Right': Obamacare Turns Five","datePublished":"2015-03-23T10:00:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:11:58.622Z","description":"The Affordable Care Act was signed on March 23, 2010","url":"https://time.com/3746585/obamacare-2010/","keywords":["politics","Obamacare","Affordable Care Act","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2a6b6ecb2edd71/698783cf06f2c1513e33472a/1101100405_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2a6b6ecb2edd71/698783cf06f2c1513e33472a/1101100405_400.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Health Reform Cover","caption":"Health Reform Cover","creditText":"Cover Credit: PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY ANN ELLIOTT CUTTING FOR TIME. 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