Big changes coming

The 2010 health care reform law will make a huge dent in the number of uninsured in the United States. As many as 26 million of the nation’s uninsured will gain coverage by 2016 as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Last year, nearly 50 million Americans were uninsured, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in September. But to help fund that expansion of coverage, a wide array of cuts and fees will be imposed on health care plans, as well as on employers and employees. Those changes are detailed here.