The resources and links below are our recommendations from some of the best policy organizations and media outlets that provide up-to-date information on the new law, as well as help you understand how the benefits of the Affordable Care Act apply to you.

New Provisions Of The Law In 2011 And Beyond

• A guide to the changes in health law (Consumers Reports)
• An interactive timeline that allows you to see all of the new provisions of the health reform law that will be implemented over the next several years. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

An animated video from KFF illustrating the changes that are happening now under the new health reform law, and what changes we can expect in 2014.

The Healthcare Reform Law and You

• Consumer Reports has a handy online health insurance guide outlining in clear, easy-to-understand terms how the new law affects the health insurance marketplace and you. Download the PDF guide here.


• AARP has educational fact sheets about the new health care law that are easy to understand and easy to print, e-mail and share, including explanations of the new law, how it affects Medicare and what reform means for young adults, people ages 50-64, age 65+, women, African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, family caregivers, small business owners and more. Go to AARP's site.


• Find out how insurance companies are now required to spend most of your
  premium dollars on health care--not on overhead, expenses or executive salaries--and how failure to do so could result in your getting a refund, starting in 2012. (Healthcare.gov)

Seniors and Retirees

FamiliesUSA.org details how the Affordable Care Act that will bring historic improvements to the quality and safety of care for seniors and persons with disabilities, expand the long term care workforce, and result in the most comprehensive federal effort ever to fight elder abuse.

• Download the PDF brief here.

The Alliance for Retired Americans has extensive information on their website on how seniors and retirees will benefit from reform will receive tremendous benefits from the new health reform law.

• Download PDFs on changes to the long-term care sector of our health care system and benefits for early retirees.

Medicare Benefits

Thanks to reform, the doughnut hole in prescription drug coverage will gradually close over the next decade.

• The Alliance for Retired Americans has a factsheet (PDF) on how closing the prescription drug coverage gap will help our nation's 46 million elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries.
• The Center for American Progress (CAP) has an online report on Medicare savings here.

Patient Care

Medicaid and the state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP): Medicare's Hospital Compare website has an online tool that enables you to check up on the quality and safety of care at your local hospital, including infection rates.

Primary Care: A January 4, 2011 issue brief from The Commonwealth Fund explores how the Affordable Care Act will begin to address the neglect of America's primary care system and estimates the possible effects these efforts will have on patients, providers and payers.

• Download the PDF brief here.