Give me the basics of this healthcare reform I have paid no attention to?

Well, for me it means that I will be forced to buy health insurance that I cannot afford. That is the only way insurance companies can afford to take in people with expensive preexisting conditions. Nothing in life is free. Someone, somewhere has to pay for it.

When I did have health insurance, it cost me something like $400 a month. I can only imagine what it will be now. I know someone who is paying $1000 a month for theirs. I guess for many people it will be cheaper to just pay the penalty.

When your employer can no longer afford to pay for your insurance, you will be forced into whatever government program they put together (and that has been the plan all along. A government that controls your life and death resources controls you.)

When you look at other countries that have similar systems, the level of care goes down, in part because there is less incentive for doctors to enter the profession. You can expect your accessibility to your doctor to be less, and there to be less innovation in the medical community. There is a reason people from Canada come to the US when they need care.

The unemployment rate where I live is currently 12%. I guarantee you that more than 6% of the general population is uninsured.

If your husbands employer is a small or mid size business, they may choose to drop it. If they don't then some of those benefits may/will be taxed. There will be longer waits for specialist and the cost of some prescriptions will go down while others may be dropped.The cost of insurance will increase but the increases will be limited in 2014 and most have split the bulk of the projected increase over the last two years. Middle class will continue to shrink under even more slight increases to their families financial output while the poorer situation will slightly increase as they qualify for more. This is just laying the groundwork for the two class system that will eventually come. if the labor pool continues to be larger then the demand, we may see this as one benefit that companies cut back on. If your parents or if you have people on medicare, they will continue to have their programs cut until it is absorbed by the reform. As more are forced onto the government plan, more money will be needed to support the system. That will mean more in the way of taxes will be needed to pay for it. As the system becomes more prevalent, it will be harder to find doctors that are willing to accept the lower rates(much like what is happening with medicare right now). Think a cross between the European and canadian systems. with paying for our health the government has now opened the doors to being able to legislate anything that impacts our health. Some say that is crazy but oils, soda size , and happy meal toys are just a precursor.

Your husband's employer is probably going to drop coverage before too long, because the cost is now going to be too high. Premiums have already gone up 25-40% because of the few provisions that have already taken effect. When the rest kick in after next year, watch out.

Private health insurance is going to become very hard to obtain or afford. And that was probably the intent all along.

Looks like private insurance will go up. So if you have insurance through your company expect to pay more for it. And in a few years they may drop it all together. Then you will have to go onto state insurance. And as we all know Medicaid isn't the same quality as private.

That is the same situation I am in. It is tough to pay our premiums now. I don't want to see how it will be in the next few years. So it punishes many those that did the right thing. And rewards many that did that didn't. Isn't our government wonderful?

I don't get it either...what's to stop people who are employed and pay out their butt's for health insurance to just drop their policies? Just because you have a job doesn't mean $600/month isn't a lot of money to fork over...

ETA: And people think this is a good idea because....? Sounds like a disaster for hard working people.

The penalty will only affect about 6% of Americans that are uninsured. However, 16 million people will be added to medicare/medicaid(?) so state taxes will go up.

No impact on your immediate family. This only affects families/individuals who are uninsured.

@ Leah- nothing will stop you, but you will be fined.

"Impose an annual penalty of $95, or up to 1% of income, whichever is greater, on individuals who do not secure insurance; this will rise to $695, or 2.5% of income, by 2016. This is an individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085.[24][83] Exemptions to the fine in cases of financial hardship or religious beliefs are permitted."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_an...

@ Leah

What's the alternative? People that don't qualify for Medicaid and don't have health insurance are most likely not going to pay their medical bills and file bankruptcy- which in turn drives up the cost of care for everybody. (yes, I know that there will be some people that *will* pay all of their medical bills- but that's a minority)

the law continuing to stand means that my brother's preexisting cancer will not prevent him from being able to be insured.

there's so much antipathy to this law -- but it included some very needed reform.

similar laws already on the books in my state have not made private health care or health insurance hard to find, any more than public education makes private education hard to find.