Your Health Security

CNN Money takes a look at the health care bills moving through Congress and offers a brief explanation of how health care reform will affect three groups of people: those who get insurance through their employer, those who purchase insurance individually, and those who have no insurance at all.

Latest news on health reform.

While most of today’s news stories about the House’s landmark health care bill focus on paying for health reform, there’s a lot of significant stuff in the 1,000-page bill that should not be overlooked.

First, the big stuff. The House bill will make sure “virtually every American will always have dependable, affordable, comprehensive health care,” says DeAnn Friedholm, who manages Consumers Union’s health reform effort and, like so many others, has spent the better part of her career trying to achieve just that.

Shopping for a flat-screen TV can be exciting, even a little fun. You can compare clearly advertised prices to find the best deal; you can compare ratings of how the TV worked by others who’ve bought it; you can even look at the quality of the picture right next to others in the store.

In contrast, shopping for health insurance can be overwhelming, if not impossible. You can’t clearly compare prices, because aside from the premium, there’s virtually no way to know exactly what your out-of-pocket costs will be if you get seriously ill; you can’t compare how well insurance companies treat their customers because there is no rating system; and you can’t compare policies side-by-side, because virtually no two are the same.