NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Under health care reform, consumers will see several new changes to their insurance coverage this year, the most significant of which affects the nation's 47 million Medicare beneficiaries.
Amy Bergner, principal with global benefits consulting firm Mercer, said senior citizens who are also Medicare enrollees will see the biggest effects.
"One of the most important changes is how much seniors will now pay for prescription medicines," Bergner said.
Here's what you need to know:
When Medicare beneficiaries fall into the coverage gap, also known as the "donut hole," Medicare stops paying for drug coverage and patients can't afford to pay for drugs out-of-pocket. The legislation aims to close the hole by 2020.
The health care reform legislation, passed last year, phases in a number of new provisions yearly until 2014 -- when most of the changes mandated by the new health law take place.
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