That's probably an apt description.
Remember, this was the very legislation that then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said we'd "have to pass the bill before we [saw] what's in the bill," and that was later passed through a questionable method in which the Affordable Care Act entitlement was attached to a generic appropriations measure so that it could be passed with only a simple majority instead of the larger majorities normally required for non-budget measures.
The chief element of the bill mandates not that everyone purchases insurance (as a tax), but that all private insurance is required to provide government-mandated coverage (essentially, there's now a minimum level of coverage). All kinds of special interest groups were given exemptions, most notably federal unions such as the SEIU, private unions such as the UAW, and also corporations, such as McDonalds.
To make the bill appear revenue neutral, they chose to begin revenue collections four years before the first outlays would begin (they've since further delayed the beginning of outlays, citing complications in establishing the federal exchanges).
Ultimately, American businesses will shed healthcare benefits, as paying the tax is cheaper, and ultimately upwards of 100M (maybe even upwards of 200M) Americans will be pushed into government healthcare.
It's your NHS by backdoor, since it never would have flown if it was sold earnestly.
