Health Care for Dummies: What You Need to Know

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2010— -- Democratic leaders have gone behind closed doors to hash out the final details of their health care reform proposals. No matter how they resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions, the final bil will, if passed, affect nearly every American to some degree, depending on how much money you make and how you currently get your health insurance.

The bill aspires to insure nearly every American. But citizens will have to buy insurance themselves.

The average health insurance plan for a family of four cost more than $13,000 in 2009 for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The foundation has also created a handy calculator, taking into account age and income to determine what that a person's government subsidy would be. You can find it HERE.

Here is a guide to how the reform bills might affect you, your pocketbook and your health coverage.

The basic tenet of both the House and Senate plans is that every American should have health insurance, whether provided by their employer, bought on the open market, or subsidized by the federal government. If not, they'll have to pay a fine on their tax bill. In most cases, the fine would be far less expensive than buying health insurance on the open market.

In order to find out how much insurance under the bill will cost you, answer the following simple questions:

How old are you?

If you are over 65 you've probably got Medicare. And that's not going to change. But if you have a bundled Medicare Advantage plan -- essentially a privately-administered Medicare HMO -- you might lose some of the additional perks you get. These can range from dental and vision coverage to gym memberships. Taxpayers pay up to 14 percent more per person for these bundled plans. Both the House and Senate health reform bills use this overpayment as one way to help fund coverage for people who currently don't have it.

Republicans have repeatedly raised concerns that the Democrats' health bills seek to cut Medicare future spending without affecting the services provided. Whether the cuts are possible without affecting the quality of Medicare remains to be seen.