If you want the nitty gritty on when different elements in HR 3590 and HR 4872 go into effect, Kaiser Family Foundation has the answers for you. KFF has put together a detailed implementation timeline for healthcare reform from 2010 until 2018.

From insurance reforms to Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drugs, tax changes, CLASS Act for long-term care, and individual and employer requirements, you can find it all in the timeline. Get it here.

If you’re wondering how the new healthcare legislation affects the health insurance coverage available to you, California Healthcare Foundation may have the answer. CHCF has created some hypothetical scenarios for individuals in various life situations, and listed the options available now and in 2014.

Are you 22 and scraping together a living with part-time jobs? Maybe you’re a low-income 37 year old who’s not eligible for Medicaid and doesn’t know what to do. Or you’re a married 45 year old with children who can’t afford your employer’s coverage. Are you 50 or 60 years old with a pre-existing condition and thinking about starting your own business, or unable to afford high-risk pool premiums?

If any of those situations strike a chord, check out CHCF’s guide to coverage now and in the future. They’ve done the digging into the thousands of pages of legislation, so you don’t have to.

You now know what we’re up against. Those 278 lobbyists (179 of them former lawmakers and aides), representing 338 healthcare special interests, spent nearly 2/3 of a billion dollars – $635 million – to great effect. You also know the organizations you trust are telling you to break the law, revolt, and block and kill the Senate bill at all costs. Stunned though I was last Friday, I didn’t do that. I called Obama to task for his lack of strong healthcare leadership, but I told you we needed to pass this bill anyway. Why?

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Politico.com has oodles of information on the deal-making that got Democrats to a quorum. You can also read the 38-page CBO analysis of the manager’s amendment, or the comparison of the original bill and the manager’s amendment.

Reading the healthcare reform headlines and analysis this week, I’ve been having some disturbing flashbacks. It seems every bad idea, every damaging policy, every special-interest laden piece of refuse that I’ve written about in the last few months has been included in HR 3590. The Senate has effectively legislated increased protection for fat, powerful health insurers; lazy, uncompetitive pharmaceutical companies; and profiteering hospitals. Even physicians were granted a two-month reprieve on Medicare reimbursement so a permanent solution could be included in the final healthcare bill. What did we, the patients, get? Join in this trip down memory lane as we answer that question.

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