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What Impact Will Health Care Reform Have on You?

The health care reform bill has a lot of pieces. Some of them may affect you, others not. Some kick in this year, others phase in over a period of years. What effect the bill will have on any given person is a complicated question. Here are a few resources to find answers.

Remember that there is a long list of provisions that go into effect this year. Once the Senate passes the reconciliation bill already passed by the House, those include:

• SMALL BUSINESS TAX CREDITS
• BEGINS TO CLOSE THE MEDICARE PART D DONUT HOLE
• FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER MEDICARE
• HELP FOR EARLY RETIREES
• ENDS RESCISSIONS
• NO DISCRIMINATON AGAINST CHILDREN WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
• BANS LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE
• BANS RESTRICTIVE ANNUAL LIMITS ON COVERAGE
• FREE PREVENTIVE CARE UNDER NEW PRIVATE PLANS
• NEW, INDEPENDENT APPEALS PROCESS
• ENSURING VALUE FOR PREMIUM PAYMENTS
• IMMEDIATE HELP FOR THE UNINSURED UNTIL EXCHANGE IS AVAILABLE (INTERIM HIGH-RISK POOL)
• EXTENDS COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE
• COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS
• INCREASING NUMBER OF PRIMARY CARE DOCTORS
• PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SALARY
• HEALTH INSURANCE CONSUMER INFORMATION
• CREATES NEW, VOLUNTARY, PUBLIC LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROGRAM

Included on that list are things that will help almost everyone. Like ending rescissions: now, if you’re insured you won’t have to worry that your insurance company will drop you the minute you get sick and really need the coverage. People graduating from college won’t have to worry that if it takes them some time to find a good job in this tough economy, they’ll lose their insurance—and their parents won’t have to worry, either. If you’re on Medicare and have a lot of prescription medications, the closing of the Part D donut hole will mean an awful lot to you. If you’re like me and you have good insurance, but you’ve found that it’s a lot easier to find just about any kind of specialist than it is to find a primary care doctor who’s taking patients, an increase in the number of primary care doctors is good news. If you’ve had a major illness or accident that ran up big bills once in your life, you’ll know how important the lifting of lifetime caps and restrictive annual limits is. And so on.

Ok, so those are some widespread effects. But what about you specifically?

The Washington Post walks you through it with a tool that asks about your current insurance status, your household size, income, and marital status and then tells you what will change. Will you be eligible for a new kind of insurance? Will the costs be subsidized? Will your taxes rise?

And finally (for now), this is instructive:

Tags: health care reform