Tom Marr is in for Mark Levin and was handed a softball issue and fumbled it. If Republicans want to kill Obamacare, it would help if they know a bit more about it.
He was talking about the tax/penalty for people who don’t carry qualifying coverage in 2014. He correctly stated the tax is the larger of $95 or 1% of your income.
What he got wrong is he said that if people pay the $95, if theY do get sick, they can just sign up if they get sick, so there is no reason to sign up. Bzzzzt
Obamacare (after the first year) will work the same way group coverage plans work. Once a year, there will be an “open enrollment” period in the late fall during which you choose the policy for the coming year. You’re committed to that policy for the entire year. If you haven’t signed up by the end of open enrollment, you cannot buy health insurance for a year until the next open enrollment.
The exception is “special enrollments”, like if you move to a new state or lose your job – but the requirement to register during the year requires that you were already insured.
So people who think they will game the system by not buying insurance and going to the Exchange the day they know they are sick are in for a rude awakening. They’ll have to wait until open enrollment and then the coverage won’t start until Jan 1st and won’t be retroactive.
What’s different about 2014 is they’re going to keep open enrollment open until march to allow for the rush of people in a panic once everyone starts to pay attention.
Heard today on Rush Limbaugh that Obama has changed the deal yet again. Apparently you now have to enroll by mid-February (not March 31 as previously advertised) to avoid having to pay the fine.
I still don’t understand how they can legally impose a fine via the 2013 tax returns for failure to take actions under a law that doesn’t go into effect until Jan 1 2014? Sounds like an expost-facto violation to me. But since the key components of Obamacare are clearly unconstitutional to anyone who can read English, I suppose another Constitutional violation is not a concern. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few- or the one.
Does anyone think the healthcare.gov website will be working properly by Feb 2014?
How needs the website- we now have something all those census workers can do to stay on the payroll for their slow 9 years. 😉
The fine/tax I’m pretty sure doesn’t hit until you file your 2015 taxes – there will be some schedule for everyone to fill out in order to calculate your health care tax credit (or penalty if you didn’t pay into it). My guess is there will be a 1099 like system where the insurance companies report how many months you had coverage with them.
I don’t think this was a change as much as someone realizing a new contradiction in the 2000 pages. Keeping open enrollment open until March 31st (the first year only) will protect the people who don’t yet understand the law. A lot of people with current coverage are being told their existing coverage is not ACA compliant, and that means the law requires the insurance company to boot people off their existing plan (Obama lied? I’m shocked!)
The bit about February is you only have a short time when you become eligible to buy insurance until you do. Expect insurance companies to demand that they submit a draft against your bank account for the premium, not wait for you to send a check. What about the “unbanked”? those who can’t get a checking account? How will the holdouts who don’t have Internet access deal with shopping for coverage?
That raises another problem – what happens to people when their premium payment is bounced due to NSF? Nonpayment has to result in policy cancellation, but that would leave the person without coverage until Jan 1st the following year. I wonder if one insurance company will be able to refuse to issue a policy if you have unpaid bills from prior companies (the way utility companies and banks share info on deadbeats)
Here are the details
https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-someone-doesnt-have-health-coverage-in-2014/
You are NOT required to buy insurance if you are an illegal alien, an American Indian. They don’t list it, but I think there is an exception if the cheapest plan exceeds 9.5% of your income, but you don’t qualify for Medicaid.
That page mentions something new without explaining it – that you are now required to fully pay your medical charges. The enforcement mechanism isn’t stated. Debtor’s prison?
Well, well, well!!! Just one more good reason to shut down the gov and, as Obama himself said, the whole thing the Republican’s fault.
I mean to say, ‘What better chance will there be to ‘kill 2 birds with one stone’?
Go 3rd party, Go!!!!