ObamaCare

The Cliff Notes: Insurance for 31 million people who don't already have insurance.

Congress is trying to accomplish the following: Insure all Americans (excluding illegals), prevent insurance industry "abuse", check or reduce skyrocketing healthcare costs, and have the medical profession adopt a model that incentivizes results, not expensive procedures.

Most changes take effect in 2014, but there will be some small changes taking place immediately should the bill pass. Some of the small changes include:

The Good
--uninsured people with pre-existing conditions will get temporary affordable coverage
--children will be protected from exclusion due to pre-existing conditions
--children will be able to stay on their parents' plan until age 26
--preventative care, like check-ups, won't cost anything out-of-pocket
--no annual or lifetime caps on coverage
--medicare beneficiaries will have help buying prescription drugs

The Bad
--Insurance companies, medical device makers, and drugmakers will be subject to material tax increases and will probably pass on the cost.
--nothing important will happen for most people right away

Premiums
If you buy your own insurance, your premiums quite possibly may increase. Although, depending on your income, your premiums may actually drop due to federal subsidies. If your insurance is covered through your employer, the legislation should have very little effect on your premiums. But why would premiums rise? The law would require to offer more comprehensive coverage, which would be partly offset by the larger pool of people buying insurance. President Obama claims premiums will fall by 14-20%, but that only applies to people who buy their own insurance and who choose plans with similar coverage to what they would be able to buy currently.

Taxes
Your taxes will go up, starting in 2013, if you make more than $200,000 per year, or $250,000 as a couple. Theoretically, the law could raise everyone's taxes indirectly if it ends up adding to the federal deficit (Congressional Budget Office estimates this bill will REDUCE the deficit by $130 billion).

Federal Budget Deficit and COSTS
We are about to fund a $930 billion project over the next 10 years, and most critics agree that the CBO and democrats are far too optimistic as far as the actual costs are concerned. The portions of the bill that were written to stem rising healthcare were watered down or dropped during the shaping of the final version of the bill.

Individual Mandate
Starting in 2014--with the exception of some low-income individuals--everyone will be required to have health insurance or pay a fine. That same year will see the start of healthcare exchanges where individuals will able to shop for private policies.

Employers
If your employer doesn't offer insurance, they will have a strong incentive to do so. For companies with 50+ employees, a $2,000 fee will be charged for each worker who gets government-subsidized insurance.

So what else is happening in 2014? The government will stop subsidizing private Medicare Advantage programs, potentially forcing seniors to enrolled in them to pay more or switch back to traditional Medicare. The biggest drawbacks are tightening regulation of private industry and a potentially higher budget deficit. Also, adding 10's of millions of people to the healthcare system has raised concerns that there will be longer waits for doctor visits and surgeries. People who wanted a government-run public insurance option or even a single-payer Medicare-like system for everyone are also disappointed at the limited scope of this plan.

Source:theweek.com