The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday to uphold health care reform has widespread implications for both insured and uninsured consumers. <\/p>\n
Beginning in 2014, uninsured individuals must buy coverage -- either on their own, through an employer's plan or through a health insurance exchange -- or else pay a tax penalty. Meanwhile, insured consumers will continue to enjoy key mandates of the law, such as free preventive care and coverage of adult dependents up to age 26, but at the expense of higher out-of -pocket costs. <\/p>\n
In the United States, more than half of the population -- or 160 million people -- gets health insurance directly through their employers, while 50 million people have no insurance, according to the government. Tens of millions more consumers either buy their own private insurance or are covered by government programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. <\/p>\n
Several key mandates of health reform have already gone into effect since the law passed in 2010. Here's a rundown of those provisions and new mandates rolling out over the next two years that will impact almost all of these consumers. <\/p>\n
If you have insurance through your employer: Employees will continue to enjoy key benefits mandated by health reform that have already gone into effect. <\/p>\n
\"For consumers who are insured through their employers, this is good news,\" said Mike Thompson, principal with PwC's Global Human Resources Services. <\/p>\n
Among the main provisions: Employers must provide coverage for adult dependents of workers up to age 26; health plans must cover certain preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without charging a deductible, co-pay or coinsurance; and insurers can't impose a maximum lifetime dollar limit on a customer's medical care. <\/p>\n
In 2013, eight additional preventive care services for women, including HIV and HPV (Human Papillomavirus) screening, will be covered under health reform. <\/p>\n
Related: Justices say insurance mandate is a tax <\/p>\n
But some industry experts also said that employers who offer insurance will now be even more focused on controlling their health care costs, especially since the individual mandate is expected to add more people -- including more high-risk individuals -- to their plans. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Health care reform: How it impacts your insurance coverage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday to uphold health care reform has widespread implications for both insured and uninsured consumers. Continue reading