On occasion, a single piece of legislation captures the essence of a political movement. Such is the case with the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” the signature piece of Obama era legislation now in its sixth year.

Passage of the historic bill marked the high point of progressive power, fueled by a Democratic president and Democratic control of both Houses of Congress. Though this full court press could not deliver the ultimate goal — single payer government-run healthcare — the next best thing was offered as a sound intermediate step. Here, Hillary Clinton’s (circa 1993) much maligned healthcare reform had come full circle – even if Speaker Nancy Pelosi could not quite describe the constituent elements of the bill. But, no matter — the content was deemed far less important than the fact of passage: “…[we] have to pass the bill so that you [the people] can find out what’s in it.”