Kiplinger's Personal Finance

"Get Ready for Obamacare"
"President Obama signed the affordable Care Act into law, its major provisions are nearly ready for prime time.  Beginning January 1, insurers will no longer be able to reject people or charge higher rates because of preexisting conditions; the premiums they charge older people will be capped; most plans won't be able to impose annual or lifetime caps on coverage; and to control the cost of insuring the older and sicker, everyone-including the young and healthy- must have health insurance or face a penalty.  In 2014 the penalty is 1% of annual income or $95 per person(whichever is higher); the penalty increase to 2.5% of income or $695 per person in 2016.
"If you don't have health insurance through an employer-because you're self-employed or unemployed, you work for an employer that doesn't offer health benefits, or you simply decided to go bare-you may be eligible to receive a subsidy to help reduce your premiums.  But to qualify, you have to buy a policy from you state's new health insurance exchange.  If you work for an employer that does offer coverage, you can still choose to shop on the exchanges, but you can't get a subsidy if your employer proves "affordable" coverage.  Affordable means the employee's share of premiums for employee-only coverage is no more than 9.5% of household income.  The employer's plan must also be considered "adequate," which means it covers 60% of the average health care costs in the area(based on a complicated actuarial calculation).
"Because of the health care law's new protections, young, healthy people won't get as big of a break on premiums and are likely to pay higher rates than in the past.  Older people may pay less, especially if they have health conditions that jacked up their premiums.  But the changes will depend on your state's current rules, competition in the marketplace and the level of coverage you have now...."