Posted on 10/26/2016 9:11:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The architects of the Affordable Care Act thought they had a blunt instrument to force people — even young and healthy ones — to buy insurance through the law’s online marketplaces: a tax penalty for those who remain uninsured.
It has not worked all that well, and that is at least partly to blame for soaring premiums next year on some of the health law’s insurance exchanges.
The full weight of the penalty will not be felt until April, when those who have avoided buying insurance will face penalties of around $700 a person or more. But even then that might not be enough: For the young and healthy who are badly needed to make the exchanges work, it is sometimes cheaper to pay the Internal Revenue Service than an insurance company charging large premiums, with huge deductibles.
“In my experience, the penalty has not been large enough to motivate people to sign up for insurance,” said Christine Speidel, a tax lawyer at Vermont Legal Aid.
Some people do sign up, especially those with low incomes who receive the most generous subsidies, Ms. Speidel said. But others, she said, find that they cannot afford insurance, even with subsidies, so “they grudgingly take the penalty.”
The I.R.S. says that 8.1 million returns included penalty payments for people who went without insurance in 2014, the first year in which most people were required to have coverage. A preliminary report on the latest tax-filing season, tabulating data through April, said that 5.6 million returns included penalties averaging $442 a return for people uninsured in 2015.
With the health law’s fourth open-enrollment season beginning Tuesday, consumers are anxiously weighing their options.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Can you avoid the tax by charitable donations?
just don’t pay it, millions are doing that
you can not be taxed for not buying a product, that is against our constitution and it does not matter what those freaks in black robes think, they don’t write the laws either
I thought that you could avoid the penalty by making sure you don't get a refund.
Maybe.
They can only assess the penalty on your refund. So if you adjust withholding and structure your deductions and donations you probably can avoid paying the fines.
AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE TO OBAMACARE
http://samaritanministries.org/costs/monthly/
its been reported that many Americans are just skipping the line on their taxes
Just saying.
We should really not criticize dems on this issue.
There are a million things to criticize dems on. Virtually every single issue, in the world. Every one, the dems are on the wrong side.
Free speech. Media bias. Our liberal-infested education monstrosity. The GOP is right about America’s awesome military, and the millions of patriotic Americans everywhere. Our historic level of personal freedom. American business interests (American, not foreign). Gun rights. On every single issue, the GOP is far, far superior to what the dems continue to parrot mindlessly, as a massive statist block.
But on medical care, the GOP has been completely absent.
Nowhere. At all.
This is one subject the GOP should shut up about. They have done nothing for the entire last generation.
Not one thing.
Come up with a better idea. Until you do, just do not say a single word.
That is my strong, opinion.
Our medical system is an extremely expensive mess. Millions cannot even afford care, and just go to emergency when things get bad.
That is not a healthcare system, a country like America deserves.
It is utterly sold-out to the profession.
Obamacare was a result of that. It was something. You may strongly disagree with it, but where is even one Republican alternative.
What we had, was a hugely expensive mess.
GOP needs to say how they would improve things. Not simply criticize Obamacare.
How would we do it better?
Well said!
So..... Where did the 5.6million times $447/ea on the average tax penalty go?
$247,520,000 is a lot of money
It has not worked all that well, and that is at least partly to blame for soaring premiums next year on some of the health law’s insurance exchanges.
And the same architects would like to send men with guns to force you to sign up, or else....
Tax penalty? I heard Obamacare wasn’t a tax.
Simple!! How about the Government stay completely out of the healthcare business in its entirety! I’ve worked for one of the largest financial firms in the world. Obamacare was corporations way out and saddling more cost on their employees so more is returned to the shareholder. Why you ask? Because the alternative is Obamacare and they know it!
I long for the days of having my healthcare the way it was when Obamacare was not around! When 20$ took care of a doc visit and 200$ on the birth of my children. Now I must submit to so called “wellness programs” or suffer higher premiums and out of pocket is thousands now.
The Repukes shouldn’t come up with a damned thing! Leave my healthcare alone! I want the government out of my life period!
Notice how they refer to it as a “Health Law TAX Penalty?”
FU John Roberts
Doing nothing is not good. But it's still better than ruining our entire healthcare system. You have obviously haven't been screwed over by ACA. I have a friend (who was pro-ACA, by the way) who had cancer. He couldn't work on chemo, because, chemo make is so you can't work. Because he couldn't work he was kicked off his plan, so guess what, now he's on the free version, so no more cancer treatment.
The government in America is hugely involved in healthcare.
Massive government mandates, about everything.
Until the government gets out of meddling in our healthcare, then we need new alternatives.
Our healthcare system is an extremely expensive mess.
Just a mess. Really, it is.
I think we need massive de-regulation, and much less laws governing what can be offered. We need competition. But that means GET RID OF GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS.
One or the other. Deregulate, or provide alternatives.
What we have now is the worst, of both.
In my opinion, that is.
Roberts said otherwise.
You can avoid paying the penalty by arranging your withholding or quarterly prepayments such that there is no refund because according to the law as passed by congress, the fine can only be taken out of that refund. Arranging your tax payments that way is sensible even without the penalty. Why lend the government your money interest free ? And, given the parlous state of the economy you really can’t be confident that you will get that refund and not a government IOU. Other countries have done that.
You’ve said precisely what I was thinking. What you said gets them out of the way. Deregulate and make way for a completely open market; including across state borders, cut regulations and mandates, red tape, paperwork,etc.
The government destroys almost everything it places its grimy little fascist fingers on. I agree with you. Kill mandates and deregulate. Let the open market consumers decide what the safest product and alternatives are.
I loathe the government in its present form if you haven’t noticed. That commie pos in the White Hut has done more to destroy our capitalistic system than any other human. I truly despise him
Women, children and minorities hardest hit.
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