Posted on 10/09/2016 12:18:54 PM PDT by george76
The House of Representatives has passed a bill to protect more than 800,000 former members of 17 failed Obamacare CO-OPs from having to pay a penalty for being uninsured when they file their 2016 tax returns.
The CO-OP Consumer Protection Act (H.R.954), which passed last week on a 258-165 vote, would “amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt from the individual mandate certain individuals who had coverage under a terminated qualified health plan funded by the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program.”
Some of the failed non-profit CO-OPs - which American Action Forum president Douglas Holtz-Eakin called “the first version of the public option” - initially exceeded enrollment projections because they offered health insurance plans at a lower cost than private insurers.
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Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also spoke on the House floor in favor of the bill.
“Obamacare is collapsing all around us. Insurers are backing out, people can’t afford the premiums, and even heavily subsidized CO-OPs are crashing,” he said, pointing out that many Americans were “left in the lurch” when their CO-OP failed.
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House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA), an orthopedic surgeon, also blasted the administration for trying to impose a tax penalty on people who lost their insurance coverage when their CO-OP failed.
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The fee for being uninsured this year, which increases annually to keep pace with inflation, is $695 per adult and $347.50 per child up to $2,085 for a family of four, or 2.5 percent of their annual household income above their tax filing threshold, payable when they file their 2016 tax returns.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
NO one should face the penalty period.
Just send all of the penalty bills to Mr Roberts at the Supreme Court.
The best way to get rid of Obamacare is to enforce it.
DITTO!!!
Like any other boogey-men of the ‘small govt’ (until they’re elected (R)NC\GOPe: Nibble around the edges, pass some ‘feel good’ legislation but never, repeat NEVER, take it head-on.
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