Bookmark this page and continue to check back for updated information on the health care reform timeline as well as information about how the reform is expected to impact free clinics.

Year-By-Year Summary

• Six months after enactment, insurance companies can no longer deny children coverage based on a preexisting condition.
• Within one year of enactment and until January 1, 2015, funding will be available to states to establish state-based exchanges.The uninsured and self-employed will be able to purchase insurance through these state-based exchanges with subsidies available to individuals and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level. Illegal immigrants will not be allowed to buy health insurance in the exchanges -- even if they pay completely with their own money.
• Beginning in 2011, seniors in the Medicare prescription “donut hole” will receive a 50 percent discount on brand name drugs. The bill also includes $500 billion in Medicare cuts over the next decade.
• Starting in 2012, the Medicare Payroll Tax will be expanded to include unearned income. That will be a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for families making more than $250,000 per year ($200,000 for individuals).
• Effective 2014, everyone must purchase health insurance or face a $695 annual fine. There are some exceptions for low-income people. Insurance companies will not be able to deny coverage to anyone with preexisting conditions. Separate exchanges will be created for small businesses to purchase coverage for employees. States will be required to expand Medicaid to include childless adults
• Through 2016, the Federal Government will pay 100 percent of costs for covering newly eligible Medicaid individuals. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid.
• Beginning in 2018, insurance companies will pay a 40 percent excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" high-end insurance plans worth over $27,500 for families ($10,200 for individuals). Dental and vision plans are exempt and will not be counted in the total cost of a family's plan.
• By 2020, the Medicare prescription drug "donut hole" will be closed. Seniors who hit the donut hole by 2010 will receive a $250 rebate.