U.S. President Barack Obama said in 2013 that "consumers, small-business owners, and pharmacists" have benefited from the Affordable Care Act Talk that the Affordable Care Act would decimate small businesses ran rampant when the law was passed, but has it turned out to be true? The health care law has forced some small-business owners to make tough choices, with more expensive coverage requiring them to scale back or even preventing them from providing coverage to employees, they told MarketWatch. But other entrepreneurs say it has done nothing but good, allowing them to start their own businesses, stabilizing the cost of insuring employees, or simply giving them the peace of mind about getting health insurance in the future.