The financial effect will differ from person to person based on whether or not they had insurance before, what kinds of care they use and what kinds of assistance they qualify for based on income and other factors. On a national level, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that reform will cost $938 billion over the next decade, but reduce federal deficits by $143 billion over the same period. That analysis doesn't include the costs of many decisions that haven't been made yet, and can literally change day-to-day.

Health care reform will ensure that many more people will have insurance, but it'll come with a price. That price will be reflected in higher health care costs across the health care system, which is financed by individuals, employers and the government.

Two main factors that affect what people pay for health insurance:

• Rules about who pays what share of health insurance – individuals, employers and the government.
• The cost of medical care itself, which continues to rise sharply and is largely unaddressed by the new law. How do medical costs affect what people pay for health insurance?