Hi everyone. Thanks for listening to another weekly edition of the Money Girl

Podcast. I'm Laura Adams, author of the award-winning book Money Girl Smart Moves to Grow Rich.

If you follow the news, you've heard the term Obamacare a lot lately. No matter if you're uninsured right now or have

health coverage through an employer, everyone should get to know what health care reform really means.

In this episode, I'll cover eight facts about Obamacare,

so you understand how it will affect your health and your taxes.

Obamacare is a nickname given to a bill that passed in 2010 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama, hence the nickname.

It's actually called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,

and it's a whopping 2,572 pages long.

What many people don't realize

is that the law covers a lot more than just

health care issues.

Here are eight major facts about what's really in the law and how it will affect your health and personal finances.

Fact number one, you're legally required to have health insurance.

One of the most controversial parts of the Affordable Care Act is called the individual mandate.

Starting in 2014, the federal government will require most Americans to buy health insurance.

You must provide documentation, such as a receipt or form W-2 with your tax return to prove that you're enrolled in a health plan.

Otherwise, you'll have to pay a tax penalty of $95 or 1% of your

but this reasonable penalty gets steeper in 2015 and 2016

going as high as 6 $295 or 2.5% of gross income to a maximum of $2,085.

Fact number two, you must have a qualified health plan.

When the government says you must have health insurance starting January 1, 2014,

...