Health law's success or failure to unfold in individual stories

How people judge the health law will depend on whether they get insurance that proves affordable and adequate through the new exchanges, The Washington Post reports. In the meantime, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds that three out of four California residents of modest income believe wrongly that they're not eligible for government help to buy insurance.

The Washington Post: Individuals Will Define Obamacare's Fate
Having passed a test of its constitutionality before the Supreme Court, the law now faces an even more critical judgment -- one that will be written in millions upon millions of individual stories. Among the winners will be the uninsured, assuming the coverage they get proves to be affordable and adequate. Businesses facing a new requirement to provide insurance say they could be losers. Some people who buy their own insurance may pay more, while others may pay less. Hospitals and doctors welcome the fact that more patients will be able to pay their bills but worry the government will demand more say in what kind of care they provide (Kliff, Somashekhar, Sun and Tumulty, 9/25).

The Washington Post: How Eight Lives Would Be Affected By The Health Law
When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, he declared that "health-care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land." Now, we get to see whether it works. Starting Oct. 1, millions of Americans who lack medical insurance or buy their own coverage will have their first chance to sign up for health insurance under Obamacare. Read related article or see how much you would pay for insurance (Kliff, Somashekhar, Sun and Tumulty, 9/26).

Kaiser Health News: Worried About Costs And Unaware of Help, Californians Head Into New Era of Health Coverage
As uninsured Californians head into a new era of health coverage, they're worried about costs and unaware of the help they'll get from the government, a new survey finds. The survey, by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that three out of four Californians who earn modest incomes and could buy government-subsidized private coverage believe wrongly that they're not eligible for federal assistance or they simply don't know if they qualify" (Varney, 9/26).