Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Obamacare: Who will ignore law’s requirements?
Millions of Americans may be wrestling with computer glitches to try to sign up for Obamacare — but many people eligible just won’t bother and will pay a price for it.
Some will flout the mandate to buy coverage on ideological grounds, a health insurance version of civil disobedience.
Some will opt for the penalty because it’s cheaper than paying for insurance, even with subsidies — as long as they don’t get sick and have to pay their own medical bills.
And some are so confused about the president’s health care law that they may not even realize they have to pay a penalty — or a tax, as the Supreme Court called it — until they get slapped with the fine when they file their 2014 tax returns. And sign-up rates may be affected, too, if the technical problems on the exchange websites persist.
The penalty starts as low as $95 for the first year but then rises. By 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office, about 6 million Americans will be forking out about $7 billion worth of Obamacare penalties.
The new health exchanges need younger and healthier people to balance out the risk and prevent spiraling insurance costs. The mandate is one way of nudging them in.
Full article: http://www.politico. … quirement-98236.html
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