Six million will pay health law penalty maybe even you
By Russ Britt, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Six million Americans, or roughly 2% of the current population, will end up paying a penalty for failing to have health insurance when the full effect of the 2010 health-care overhaul law is felt in 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO on Wednesday said the penalty of $695 or 2.5% of household income under the law formally known as the Affordable Care Act increases the number of those facing the penalty than originally was projected in April 2010, shortly after the law’s passage. The law contains an individual mandate requiring all Americans to have insurance or pay a penalty.
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Now, 2 million more people will be penalized and pay an additional $3 billion in fines than originally projected, according to the report, conducted by the CBO along with the Joint Committee on Taxation.
“Most of the increase — about 85% — in the number of people who are expected to pay the penalty tax stems from changes in CBO and JCT’s baseline projections since April 2010, including the effects of legislation enacted since that time, changes in the economic outlook (primarily a higher unemployment rate and lower wages and salaries), and other technical updates,” the report says.
To avoid the penalty they should get health insurance. I don’t want to pay for the uninsured anymore, no more free rides. It cost $686 million for charity care in NJ in 2011. That number does not include costs to Medicaid and Medicare. Someone is paying, it is just not the uninsured. The cost of charity care has weakened many hospitals in low income areas, when those hospitals close we all have less access to healthcare. Lucky for Ridgewood tha Valley does a negligible amount of charity work. Valley serves the “haves” not the “have nots”.
I received a mailing from Blue Cross Blue Shield yesterday. It was an ad for health insurance for the ininsured. Contact them if you want to avoid paying a penalty.