So there's been a significant amount of buzz about health reform, but the real question is, what does it mean for you? Given our focus on teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention, we thought it would be helpful to give you the scoop as we see it...

The General High Points

• If you're a single man or woman and you earn less than 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) {approximately $14,400 for the year in 2009}, you'll be eligible for Medicaid coverage (which includes family planning services).
• If you earn more than 133 percent FPL, you will be able to purchase insurance from new, state-run markets called "exchanges," and the great news is that there are standards for the kind of insurance that will be sold -- you'll be guaranteed primary care, preventive care, maternity coverage, and prescription drug coverage at a minimum. And for your covered preventive services, you won't have to pay a single cent out-of-pocket. (We're hopeful that family planning will be designated a covered preventive service, which means those services would be free!)
• If you're an early 20-something and you've been on your parents' health insurance, you can now stay on it until you're 26.
• If you live in a state that chooses to do so, you may be eligible to have Medicaid cover your family planning services even if you make more than 133 percent FPL. In fact, it's likely that you can make between 185 percent and 200 percent FPL and still get covered for family planning under Medicaid if your state chooses to check that box. (We hope they do; it saves everyone money.)
• And now there's money ($75 million a year for 5 years) out there to help states focus on evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention with the hopes that it can help keep your children, students, younger brothers and sisters, etc. from finding themselves facing too-early pregnancy.

Things to Keep in Mind

• These things take time. The Medicaid expansion (bullet 1 above) and the new insurance exchanges (bullet 2) won't take effect until 2014.
• There's a lot of work to be done making sure all these programs are done right, so don't expect a change overnight or some new flashy insurance card to show up in the mail tomorrow.
• There's a lot more, which we haven't gone into here, that will hopefully ensure that there are enough quality docs, nurses, and other health care professionals to provide you with the care and services you need.

For details about this and more, you can see our summary fact sheet, which outlines a number of the key provisions.