The new health care reform legislation approved last week is so complex and far-reaching, experts will be pouring through its details for years to understand the impact on our health care. While much of the focus is on changes occurring in 2014, there are many provisions that could impact you within the next year.

If you have Medicare

One of the most reviled sections of Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage has been the "doughnut hole" -- the gap between $2,700 and $6,100 in prescription drug expenses that Medicare does not cover. This law will eventually eliminate the hole, but this year gives a $250 rebate for those in the hole. Also, starting next year Medicare will cover certain preventative services without co-pay or deductibles.

If you have insurance through work

If you have children under 26, within six months you can add them to your qualified health care insurance for a fee. In addition, effective immediately insurance companies will no longer be able to exclude pre-existing conditions of children. Soon, lifetime and annual benefit caps will be eliminated. Also, new plans must offer a minimum level of preventative services with no co-pays or deductibles.

If you need long-term care insurance

Currently Medicaid, the federal-state program for those in poverty, is the biggest payer of long-term care benefits. Starting next year, a new long-term care insurance program will become available to workers to pay for future expenses.

Once you pay premiums for five years into the program, you will be able to receive about $50 to $75 a day to pay for services such as nursing assistance. While this doesn't come close to covering comprehensive long-term care expenses, it is a vital safety net especially for those who are uninsurable.

If you have an individual policy

If your current policy has exclusions or riders for certain health conditions, you will soon have access to policies without these restrictions. Lifetime and annual benefits caps will also be lifted for these plans and cancellations will not be allowed for those who are sick.

If you are uninsured

If you have been unable to secure insurance because of your health, within three months it will be available through a new federal high-risk pool. Here in Colorado we have a well-run state pool, CoverColorado, that offers coverage to those with pre-existing conditions or whose COBRA eligibility has expired. How CoverColorado and the new federal plan will work together is still unclear, although the new plan's premiums may be lower and out-of-pocket expenses will be capped to about $6,000 per year.

Medicaid, the largely free public medical plan, may become available based on state funding to individuals and families with incomes below about $2,444 a month for a family of four. Currently in Colorado only pregnant women and children under 6 are eligible at that income level.

If you own a small business

If your workers have average wages below $50,000 and you have fewer than 25 employees, this year you could receive up to a 35 percent tax credit of health insurance premiums paid as long as you cover half or more of your employees' costs.

Starting next year, a Simple Cafeteria benefit programs will permit employers with 100 employees or fewer to offer a pre-tax benefit plan that can be used for medical and dental insurance and expenses, long-term care premiums, life insurance and other benefits. These plans have not been available to sole proprietors, LLC members and S corporation owners.

In future columns, I'll cover important details of these programs as they are released. It's clear that this law will have a tremendous impact on our financial lives.

Dave Gardner is a certified financial planner with a practice in Boulder. He can be reached through his Web site at yellowstonefinancial.com.