What Will Health Care Reform Mean to Me?

As the debate over the health care reform package raged on following the historic March 21 vote of approval by the House, many consumers are wondering what it will mean to them.

While each individual's health insurance situation varies, there are some basic guidelines that consumers can go by as they sit and wonder what will happen to their current health care plans, how much it will cost them to be enrolled on new plans, and what will happen if they go without insurance.

The goal of "Obamacare' as many people refer to it, is to take some 32 million additional Americans off the ranks of the uninsured by 2019.

Time will tell if this goes as smoothly as many Democrats hope it does, so here are some things to keep in mind in the meantime:

• What happens if I don't have insurance when this bill goes into effect? As the legislation stands now, the majority of Americans will be required to have health insurance by 2014 or face fines. The penalties would begin at $95, or up to 1 percent of income, whichever is larger. They would rise to $695 or 2.5 percent of income two years later for individuals. The limit for families without health insurance would be $2,085. There will be some exemptions from the requirement in the event there is financial hardship or religious beliefs, etc.
• In the event I make too much for Medicaid but am still unable to afford coverage, what do I do? You may be eligible for government subsidies to assist you in paying for private insurance that would be sold in new state-based insurance marketplaces (exchanges) that will start service in 2014.
• Will this new bill make it easier for me to get insurance, even in the event I have health problems? In the event you suffer from a medical condition, the bill makes it easier for you to obtain coverage. Insurers would be prohibited from rejecting applicants as a result of health status once the exchanges begin operation in 2014. The bill also forms a temporary high-risk insurance pool for individuals suffering from medical problems that have been turned away by insurers and have been uninsured at least six months. That feature would kick in this year. Later this year, insurance companies can no longer exclude coverage for specific medical problems for kids with pre-existing conditions, nor could they any longer set lifetime coverage limits for children and adults. In 2014, annual limits for coverage would be prohibited.
• What is the price tag for all of this new health care going to cost us? While numbers have been floating around, the bill is estimated to come in at around $940 billion over a decade. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) claims that due to higher taxes and fees and billions of dollars in Medicare payment cuts to provider, the bill would in turn reduce the federal budget deficit by $138 billion over a decade. Individuals who have high incomes (over $200,000) and couples with high incomes (over $250,000) face higher taxes due to the bill.