What the Affordable Care Act means for you and your family, from Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports has just released a short and easy-to-read guide to how Obamacare – also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – will affect you and your family: Consumer Reports – Health Reform: Seven Things You Need to Know.

While it won’t teach you how to do a DIY knee replacement, the guide does do a good job of explaining the new consumer protections and benefits provided by the ACA, as well as:

• Upcoming changes to Medicare
• What the “mandate” means for you (hint: most likely, nothing)
• Related new tax rules for 2013
• How state health exchanges will work
• What “essential benefits” you can count on
• Who qualifies for help paying for health insurance
• Changes for large and small employers
• How Medicaid eligibility is changing

Consumer Reports will send free bulk copies (printed magazine-style) to anyone who will commit to distributing at least 25 copies – just fill out this form.

A Spanish-language edition of the guide is due out soon.  For more consumer resources on health care, visit Your Health Security – A Project of Consumers Union. Other questions? Send an e-mail to guide@consumersunion.com.