Last major threat to law reforming healthcare erased

President Barack Obama’s re-election erased the last major threat to his signature healthcare reform law, but left questions about implementation as the focus shifts to tackling the mounting US deficit.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the biggest overhaul of the $2.8 trillion US healthcare system since the 1960s, aims to extend health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans, beginning in January 2014.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney had vowed to repeal the law if elected, calling it a costly government expansion, despite the fact that the reforms are based on healthcare legislation he signed as governor of Massachusetts.