According to the CBO, the legislation will reduce the deficit by $143 billion[5] over the first decade and by $1.2 trillion in the second decade, as compared to current legislation.[81][82] The CBO has revised its estimates several times, initially projecting a savings of $132 billion, then $118 billion, and later $138 billion.[83][84] The CBO estimates the cost of the first decade at $940 billion, $923 billion of which takes place during the final six years (2014–2019) when the benefits kick in.[84][85] The CBO also projects revenue will exceed spending during these six years.[86]

The CBO generally does not provide cost estimates beyond the 10-year budget projection period because of the great degree of uncertainty involved in the data. It decided to do so in this case at the request of lawmakers. It predicted deficit reduction at about within "a broad range around one-half percent of GDP" over the 2020s while cautioning that "a wide range of changes could occur".[87]

David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General now working for The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, has stated that the CBO estimates are not likely to be accurate, because it is based on the assumption that Congress is going to do everything they say they're going to do.[88] On the other hand, a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis said that Congress has a good record of implementing Medicare savings. According to their study, Congress implemented the vast majority of the provisions enacted in the past 20 years to produce Medicare savings.[89][90]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and Obama's plans for health care reform in general, is often nicknamed "Obamacare".[93] The term was usually used pejoratively, but some supporters of the act suggested after being passed that it be embraced and used positively.[94]

A CNN poll of 1,030 adult Americans, conducted over the course of the three days preceding the health care reform bill vote in the House (March 19–21), found that 59% opposed the legislation while 39% supported it. Further breakdown of the results showed that 43% opposed the bill because it was too liberal, 13% opposed it because it was not liberal enough, and the remaining 39% supported the bill.[95] Of the same group of respondents, 56% said the bill "gives the government too much involvement in health care", while 28% said it gives the government a "proper role" and 16% said the government's role would be "inadequate". On costs, 62% believed the bill "increases the amount of money they personally spend on health care", while 37% believed their costs would either remain the same or go down. On the fiscal impact of the bill, 70% believed it would lead to higher deficits, while 17% believed there would be no change and 12% said deficits would decrease. The margin of error was ±3 percentage points.[95]

From wikipedia