Health Care Reform

The new health reform law is the most far-reaching health legislation since the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The following is a look at the impact of the law, which will extend insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans by 2019, but which will also have an effect on almost every citizen. Here are some commonly-asked questions about how you might be affected.

This tool illustrates premiums and government assistance under the types of reform proposals being considered for people under age 65 who purchase coverage on their own in an Exchange and are not covered through their employer, Medicare or Medicaid.

Figure $2 billion to $3 billion. That's the state of California's rough estimate of what national healthcare expansion ultimately will cost it each year.

For the next phase of healthcare reform in the United States, leaders will place more emphasis on individualized care—people keeping themselves healthier and out of hospitals, and finding ways to help themselves better manage their own health, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) HealthCast survey report.

Public outrage over double-digit rate hikes for health insurance may have helped push President Obama's healthcare overhaul across the finish line, but the new law does not give regulators the power to block similar increases in the future.

And now, with some major companies already moving to boost premiums and others poised to follow suit, millions of Americans may feel an unexpected jolt in the pocketbook.

Although Democrats promised greater consumer protection, the overhaul does not give the federal government broad regulatory power to prevent increases.

Many state governments -- which traditionally had responsibility for regulating insurance companies -- also do not have such authority. And several that do are now being sued by insurance companies.

What you need to know about how your family will benefit, what you'll really pay, whether you'll get better or worse care, and what could go wrong from here.

Sometime after July 1, under the terms of the health care reform, California will establish a new, statewide insurance pool that will offer subsidized health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions. Tens of thousands of Californians may participate.

Small businesses that qualify for tax credits under the new federal health reform law might not experience immediate benefits because of recent rate increases by insurance companies...

Despite passage of the landmark healthcare overhaul this spring, the nation's existing health system is continuing to fray, raising the prospect that the country could experience a crisis before the law establishes a new safety net in 2014.