What does Health Care Reform mean to me?

With the health care reform bill newly signed at the beginning of this year, many people are wondering how the federal health care reform bill will impact them.  I've heard stories that when Medicare was instituted that college students were hired to go door-to-door to communicate the message of what the program was all about.  Communication this time around will be equally as important as a lot of people are really confused about the reform.

Very simply, the new health care reform bill means that if you have happy with your insurance through your employer, you can keep it.  However, if don't have the opportunity to buy through an employer or want to purchase independently, you can goto a Health Insurance Exchange to purchase your insurance.  The Health Insurance Exchange will be available starting in 2014 or sooner, depending on the State in which you reside.  The benefit of the reform is that insurance will be more affordable to those where it is out of reach today due to age or health status; everyone is pooled together so the rates can be more affordable for an Individual.  The benefit of the Exchange is that it will provide consumers many product options where it is easy to compare and choose a health plan.  To see how an Exchange might evolve, take a look at healthcare.gov which is the federal version of what a State might offer to compare plans.  The health reform also has an Individual Mandate, where everyone must now carry health insurance or take a penalty; this is a highly debated topic within the reform.

The details of the regulation are still being ironed out.  Also, 20 States have joined the State of Florida to appeal some of the reform.  Therefore, the final landscape will shake out over time.  Some States have already started their paths to meeting the reform and the Exchange requirements.