What the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 Could Mean to You

I'll confess that like many others, I formed an opinion on health care reform before knowing much about the actual Senate and House/Reconciliation bills.  I focused more on the process than on the substance of the legislation.  With yesterday's passage of the House's Reconciliation bill, however, I spent some time this evening reviewing the essential provisions and changes of what is being called the health care system's overhaul.  The best resources and summaries I've found so far are:

• The New York Times' article from yesterday, For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes
• The New York Times' interactive summary on How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You
• The New York Times' side-by-side comparative summary of the Senate and House Reconciliation bills, by issue
• The Huffington Post's Fact Sheet:  The Truth About the Health Care Bill, which addresses 18 different "myths" about the health care reform bills. 

Forty-five minutes to an hour of worthwhile reading to arrive at a better understanding of what just happened yesterday and what's in store for all of us when what recent polls indicated most Americans did not want takes effect.

For those with more time or greater interest who want to read the entire 2,409-page bill passed by the Senate this past Christmas Eve, you can download a .pdf of the whole thing here.  The House of Representative's Reconciliation Bill, which made only budget- or money-related changes to the Senate's bill, is here.  For less legalese, the House Ways and Means Committee prepared a brief overall summary of the main points of the legislation and a slightly more detailed section-by-section summary.

Finally, if you're a numbers person and you’re interested in learning what this legislation will mean in terms of expanding insurance coverage and the effect on the federal budget, here's the analysis prepared by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.