Will Health Care Reforms Kick in on Time for Americans?

5192097Democrats are promising significant changes in the health insurance market with the passage of their health care legislation, but they may not be able to deliver as quickly as most Americans would expect.

A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that about half of Americans think that if Democrats pass their reform proposals, help for the uninsured and consumer protections in the insurance market would kick in within a year. In reality, most of the reform provisions take years to go into effect.

According to the poll, conducted Oct. 8 - 15, 13 percent of respondents said that if Congress and President Obama passed a health reform bill, people without insurance would begin to get financial help in buying coverage this year. Another 36 percent said they thought people would begin to get financial help next year. Twenty-five percent said three years from now, while another 18 percent said five years or longer. In fact, the subsidies would not kick in until 2013.

As many as 17 percent thought that if a reform bill is enacted, health insurance companies would have to begin accepting customers who have pre-existing health problems as soon as this year. Thirty-four percent thought they would have to starting next year, and 23 percent said three years from now. Another 17 percent said five years or longer. When consumer protections would be enacted would depend on which health care bill Congress approves.

If a health care bill is passed this year, most of the reform proposals will not go into effect until 2013, a fact that could prove to be a liability for Democrats in 2010 and 2012.

"There really is an honest-to-God logical challenge to setting up a new program that quickly," Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) told CBSNews.com earlier this year. "Once you get through this legislative sausage process, it's not going to kick in the next day."