The New Health Care System: Everything You Need to Know »

David Nather is a writer in the Washington, D.C. area with 15 years of experience covering Congress and translating its work into plain English. He has had a running focus on health care and social policy, and has covered the politics of Congress and the White House as a senior writer for Congressional Quarterly, one of the most respected sources of news and analysis about Capitol Hill. He also spent five years covering health care policy in Congress for the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., including the balanced-budget fights of the mid-1990s, the creation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the debates over patients’ rights.

A primer in plain English that explains how healthcare will work under the new legislation and how it will affect your care and your choices going forward.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review.

Providing clear, concise answers to countless questions about sweeping health care reform signed into law by President Obama in early 2010, Nather, a senior writer for Congressional Quarterly, has created an indispensible guide. From changes in Medicare and Medicaid to issues of long-term care, from health insurance exchanges to financial assistance for premiums, Nather's handbook addresses all essential topics in a manner more thorough than anything provided so far by news sources. With easy-reference headings, tables for coverage dates, numerous web and phone resources for further facts, and more, this will be a valuable resources in the coming years as the law's changes roll into effect. In addition to the mechanics of reform, Nather addresses preventive care, medical decision-making, cost-cutting, and even paying for health care reform. His efficient, humorous, nonpartisan prose - succinct yet highly detailed - makes this an indispensable guide for anyone unsure of what "The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act" will mean to them.
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Introduction 1

1 How Health Insurance Works 6

2 Fixing the Insurance Market 25

3 Everyone Has to Have Health Coverage 37

4 Getting Help Paying for Coverage 48

5 What Employers Have to Do 61

6 The New Health Insurance Exchanges 71

7 What's Left of the Public Option? 87

8 While You're Waiting... 95

9 Medicare Changes 108

10 The Expansion of Medicaid 119

11 Long-Term Care 130

12 Preventive Care and Wellness 141

13 Who Decides What Care You Get? 149

14 How They'll Cut Costs 158

15 How They'll Pay for It 172

Appendix 195

Acknowledgments 219

Index 223