Five Key Moments from Five Years of Obamacare
President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Health Care for America Act during a ceremony with fellow Democrats in the East Room of the White House March 23, 2010 in Washington, DC. The landmark bill was passed by the House of Representatives Sunday after a 14-month-long political battle that left the legislation without a single Republican vote.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesOn March 23, 2010, Vice President Biden and a not-yet-greying President Obama addressed a crowd of 300 exuberant supporters in the East Room of the White House to celebrate the passage of the new health care reform.
"Today, after almost a century of trying; today, after over a year of debate; today, after all the votes have been tallied—health insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America," Obama said. With 22 strokes of his pens "all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform," he added. Between Biden and Obama, the words "history" and "historic" were used a total of 17 times.