PERRLA/Guides/MLA 9/Affordable Care Act

How to Cite the Affordable Care Act in MLA 9

An MLA 9 Works Cited entry for the Affordable Care Act, cited as Congress passed it, starts with United States, Congress, then Public Law 111-148 in plain type, then United States Statutes at Large in italics, vol. 124, 2010, and pp. 119–1024, and ends with U.S. Government Publishing Office and the URL. The in-text citation is the first words of the entry: (United States, Congress). Name the act, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, in your sentence. If you read it in the U.S. Code instead, cite the code: Title 42, sections 18001–18122.

The format

United States, Congress. Public Law 111-148. United States Statutes at Large, vol. 124, 2010, pp. 119–1024. Website Name, URL.

PERRLA MLA Experts · Updated October 30, 2026
Checked against the MLA Handbook, 9th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Choose Statutes (under Legal References), then A federal statute, then Statute cited from Public Law. Type 111-148 in Public Law Number, 124 in the United States Statutes at Large Volume Numbers box, and 2010 in Original Year, and paste the GovInfo link in URL (Web address). MLA gives every page the law fills, so type the whole range, 119–1024, in Statute Starting Page Number. PERRLA starts the entry with United States, Congress and puts the Statutes at Large in italics. The MLA entry doesn't print the Name of the Statute or Act, so name the act in your sentence.

Citing the U.S. Code instead? Pick Statute codified in the United States Code, type 42 in the United States Code Title Number box, the first section in United States Code Section Numbers, and the last one in Ending Section Number if you cite a range. Put the year of the code edition you read (2024 on GovInfo) in Original Year. Pasting a citation like 42 U.S.C. § 18001 et seq. into PERRLA's reference search fills in the title and the first section. Et seq. means "and the sections that follow," so type 18122 in Ending Section Number to show the real range, and set Original Year to the edition you read.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same works cited entry by hand.

The parts of the works cited entry

1. Author: the government

A law's author is the body that made it. MLA's public law example names the government first, then Congress, separated by a comma, and ends with a period.

United States, Congress.

The U.S. Code on GovInfo names no author, so that entry starts with the code's name instead.

2. Title: the public law number

For a law cited from the Statutes at Large, the law's number takes the title spot, in plain type, followed by a period. The first part is the Congress that passed it (the 111th), and the second is its place among that Congress's laws (the 148th). Keep the hyphen.

Public Law 111-148.

The act's official name, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, isn't part of this entry. Put it in your sentence. "Affordable Care Act," "ACA," and "Obamacare" are popular names for the same law.

3. Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large is the official collection of every law Congress passes, so it's the container: its name in italics, then vol. and the volume number, the year, and pp. with every page the law fills.

United States Statutes at Large, vol. 124, 2010, pp. 119–1024.

The ACA starts on page 119 of volume 124 and runs to page 1024. MLA usually shortens the second page number to its last two digits, but pp. 119–24 would mean pages 119 to 124, so 1024 stays whole.

4. Website

If you read the law online, the website is a second container: its name in italics, a comma, and the URL without https://, ending with a period. MLA's own public law example names the U.S. Government Publishing Office here, the office that posts the Statutes at Large on GovInfo.

U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-124/pdf/STATUTE-124-Pg119.pdf.

5. The U.S. Code (the other way to cite it)

Much of the ACA also sits in the U.S. Code, in Chapter 157 of Title 42, sections 18001 through 18122. To cite it there, the code's name starts the entry in plain type. Then come Title 42, the sections spelled out, the publisher, the year of the edition you read, and the URL.

United States Code. Title 42, sections 18001–18122, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024,

MLA cites the version you consulted, so the year is the code edition (2024 on GovInfo), not 2010. Chapter 157 holds the ACA's own provisions, but the act also changed other parts of the code, like the Medicare and Medicaid rules in the Social Security Act and the tax code. For the law as a whole, the public law is the complete version.

Examples

The ACA as Congress passed it (the public law)

The whole law as it was signed on March 23, 2010, read in the Statutes at Large on GovInfo. Use this form when your paper is about the ACA as a whole or its history. The entry doesn't name the act, so name it in your sentence.

  • In-text citation(United States, Congress)
  • Narrative citationIn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the United States Congress …

The ACA in the U.S. Code

Chapter 157 of Title 42, sections 18001 through 18122, read in the 2024 edition on GovInfo. The entry covers the whole range, and the in-text citation points to the section you used: here, section 18022, which lists the essential health benefits plans must cover, such as maternity and newborn care and mental health services.

  • In-text citation(United States Code, sec. 18022)
  • Narrative citationThe United States Code lists maternity and newborn care among the essential health benefits (sec. 18022).

One section of the ACA: Section 1557

Section 1557 bars discrimination in health programs that receive federal money, and it comes up often in nursing and public health papers on language access and equity. In the U.S. Code it's section 18116 of Title 42. If you read that one section's page, you can make it the entry, and the in-text citation needs nothing more. Call it Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act in your sentence, so your reader knows which provision you mean.

  • In-text citation(United States Code)
  • Narrative citationSection 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, codified in the United States Code, bars discrimination in health programs that receive federal funds …

The companion law: the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010

A week after the ACA, on March 30, 2010, the President signed this second law, which changed several of the ACA's provisions. If your source discusses "the ACA as amended" or those changes, cite it too. It runs from page 1029 to 1083, and MLA shortens the second number to 83. With two entries that start with United States, Congress, add the law's number to each in-text citation.

  • In-text citation(United States, Congress)
  • Narrative citationIn the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the United States Congress …

In-text citations

An MLA 9 in-text citation uses the first words of the Works Cited entry. For the ACA, that's the government or the code, not the act's name, and never a year.

  • The public law: (United States, Congress)
  • The U.S. Code, a range in the entry: add the section you used, with a comma and sec.: (United States Code, sec. 18022)
  • One section as the entry: (United States Code)
  • Two public laws on your Works Cited page: add each law's number so your reader can tell them apart: (United States, Congress, Public Law 111-148) and (United States, Congress, Public Law 111-152)
  • Name in your sentence: give only the section at the end, or leave the parentheses off when there's nothing left to add: The United States Code lists maternity and newborn care among the essential health benefits (sec. 18022).

Write the act's name in plain type, never in italics. Spell it out the first time, as in "the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)," then use ACA after that.

Common mistakes

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010).United States, Congress. Public Law 111-148. United States Statutes at Large, vol. 124, 2010, pp. 119–1024.The first form is legal citation style, which APA uses. MLA follows its own template for laws: the government as author, the law's number as the title, and the Statutes at Large as the container.
  • (Affordable Care Act, 2010)(United States, Congress)MLA in-text citations match the first words of the Works Cited entry and never take the year. Name the act in your sentence instead.
  • The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid …The Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid …Names of laws and acts are capitalized like titles but set in plain type, with no italics and no quotation marks.
  • United States Code. Title 42, sections 18001–18122, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2010,United States Code. Title 42, sections 18001–18122, U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024,MLA cites the version you read. The code on GovInfo is the 2024 edition, even though the ACA became law in 2010.
  • (United States Code 18022)(United States Code, sec. 18022)A section number takes a comma and sec. so your reader doesn't take it for a page number.

Quick checklist

  • United States, Congress, then Public Law 111-148
  • United States Statutes at Large in italics, vol. 124, 2010, pp. 119–1024
  • The website in italics, then the URL
  • U.S. Code: Title 42 and the sections, with the year of the edition you read
  • The act's name in your sentence, in plain type
  • In text: (United States, Congress), or (United States Code, sec. #)

Questions students ask

Is it the Affordable Care Act or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?

Both name the same law. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the official title the law gives itself in Section 1. Use it the first time you mention the law, then you can switch to the Affordable Care Act or ACA. Neither name goes in the MLA entry itself, which starts with the government and the law's number.

Can I write (ACA) as my in-text citation?

No. The in-text citation has to match the first words of the Works Cited entry, and that entry starts with United States, Congress (or United States Code). Use ACA freely in your sentences once you've spelled out the name.

Should I cite the public law or the U.S. Code?

Cite the version you read. The public law is the whole ACA as it passed in 2010, which suits a paper about the law or its history. The U.S. Code shows where the ACA's provisions sit today, and it's the better choice when your point rests on one section, like the essential health benefits in section 18022.

How do I cite Section 1557 of the ACA?

Section 1557 is codified at section 18116 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code. Cite that section of the code, and say "Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act" in your sentence so your reader knows which provision you mean. The section numbers are different because the code gives each provision its own number when it files the law by subject.

Do I need a URL for the Affordable Care Act?

If you read the law online, yes. MLA asks for the location of an online source, which for a website is the URL, so your reader can find the copy you used. If your instructor tells you to leave URLs out, follow that.

Can I cite HealthCare.gov instead of the law?

Cite whatever you actually read. If you used a HealthCare.gov or HHS page that explains the law, cite that page as a webpage by an organization. If you're making a point about what the law itself says, cite the law.

Rules checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.), chapter 5 (the core elements, containers, and government authors) and chapter 6 (in-text citations), and the MLA Style Center's post Documenting Legal Works in MLA Style (laws in plain type; the public law and U.S. Code examples; citing the version you consulted). Example sources verified on GovInfo: the Statutes at Large records for Public Law 111-148 (124 Stat. 119–1024) and Public Law 111-152 (124 Stat. 1029–1083), and the 2024 edition of the U.S. Code, Title 42, Chapter 157 (sections 18001–18122, including 18022 and 18116).

PERRLA builds the Affordable Care Act's Works Cited entry from the public law number or the U.S. Code section, ready for your MLA paper.

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