Another rude Obamacare surprise awaits [Your TAX, uh, FINE, uh, TAX!]

Yahoo Finance ^ | November 17, 2014 1:20 PM | By Rick Newman

[Red Badger]

Taxes are bad enough when you know they’re coming—and much worse when they arrive unexpectedly.

As the Affordable Care Act enters its second year of operability, a key and controversial element of the plan will begin to affect several million Americans for the first time. People who didn’t have health insurance during 2014 may soon have to pay a penalty fee that starts at $95 and goes up based on how much you earn. Some Americans know about the penalty, and they’ve budgeted for it or at least accepted its inevitability. But several million others could be in for a rude surprise when Washington assesses a fee they didn’t even know was coming.

The uninsured rate has fallen since Obamacare, as the ACA is known, went into effect at the start of 2014. But there are still roughly 40 million adult Americans who lack health insurance, according to Census Department data. A recent poll by Gallup shows that about 55% of the uninsured plan to get insurance, while 35% say they’re willing to pay the fine for not having coverage. That leaves 10% of the uninsured — 4 million people or so -- who appear to be unaware they need to have insurance or pay a penalty. Plus, some of the 55% who say they plan to get coverage inevitably won’t, including a portion who probably don’t know they’ll get stuck paying a penalty.

The “individual mandate” requiring most adult Americans to have health insurance is an essential element of the ACA because it enlarges the pool of people who are insured and spreads healthcare costs as widely as possible. Without the mandate, there would be a larger portion of sick people and a smaller portion of healthy people covered by insurance, which could make coverage prohibitively expensive for those

[Beagle8U]

Gruber was right about the ones that were fooled being stupid, liberals.

[MrB]

There is no doubt in my mind that that was an absolutely intended consequence.

[DeakonSmith]

That’s not Jonathan Gruber. That’s Deputy Director of National Intelligence Integration, Robert Cardillo.

[EVO X]

Yeah, most people WANT to get a refund.

I suspect her penalty won't be all that much, maybe a $100 or so since she didn't sign up. Making an educated guess, she was probably eligible for premium free bronze coverage unless she got a separation payout. I doubt that occurred. If my educated guess is correct, she would have been able to get the more extensive cost sharing silver plan for next to nothing..

[hattend]

BTTT

[Monorprise]

It doesn’t seem rational that the democratic party would want to run “Elizabeth Warren” She nearly lost reelection in Massachusetts of all places.

Only the republican party is capable of such corrupt incompetents.

[Obstinate]

I sure don’t see that working out well.

How in the heck does one go about proving you have the required policy?

I can see the IRS taking money from folks who have the required policy, then it taking 3 lifetimes for the IRS to refund the money.

[cuban leaf]

I suspect her penalty won’t be all that much, maybe a $100 or so since she didn’t sign up.

---

That’s what ours would be if we got a refund. I refuse to get health care insurance as long as Obamacare is a mandate. It’s a principle thing. As John Galt did in Atlas Shrugged, I reached a point where I refuse to just give in and work within the system. Obamacare and the insurance mandate was that line for me.

I sincerely wish it had been the line for a LOT of healthy patriots. :-(

[EVO X]

I sincerely wish it had been the line for a LOT of healthy patriots. :-(

People have to do what is in their best interest. If your healthy these private insurance plans are a bad deal even with modest subsidies. What I find absurd is that hard working healthy people that can't shelter their income can end up subsidizing people that are financially better off..