Final answer:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is a significant healthcare reform law enacted in 2010, aimed at expanding insurance coverage, making healthcare more affordable, and reducing healthcare costs, and has largely remained intact despite legal challenges.
Step-by-step explanation:
The healthcare law/regulation we discussed in class is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), often referred to as Obamacare. This law, signed by President Obama in March 2010, serves to reform the U.S. healthcare system significantly. Its primary objectives are to make health insurance more attainable and affordable, expand coverage to more Americans, and reduce healthcare costs. The regulation enabled the creation of health insurance exchanges and required most U.S. citizens to obtain some form of health insurance. Notably, it aimed to bring the United States closer to universal coverage. Despite challenges, including a high-profile case before the Supreme Court (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius), the ACA has remained largely intact and had gained majority approval as of March 2022.