David Ross & Associates
  • Home
  • Testimonials
  • Join List
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Critical Event Protection

Obamacare's individual mandate is repealing itself

11/30/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Senate this week is expected to vote on a tax bill that includes a controversial provision to repeal Obamacare’s tax penalty on the uninsured.

Democrats and some conservative policy analysts fret that if Congress scuttles the so-called individual mandate, insurance premiums will rise.

The reverse may be closer to the truth: Premiums for Obamacare policies next year will be so high that millions will be exempt from the tax penalty whether Congress repeals it or not. Even the skimpiest coverage now costs so much that many uninsured people with six-figure incomes will be exempt.

The individual mandate is repealing itself.

The mandate represented a grand bargain between the government and the insurance industry. Insurers agreed not to base premiums on applicants’ medical conditions, and in exchange, the government agreed to subsidize premiums and penalize the uninsured. In theory, the threat of tax penalties would induce healthy people to pay an unfairly high price for a product they wouldn’t otherwise buy, creating a stable insurance pool that would generate billions in profits for insurers.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Healthy people have largely shunned the exchanges, making the individual health-insurance market a losing proposition for most insurers. The number of people with individual policies, which grew during Obamacare’s first two years, has been shrinking since 2016. The erosion has been most pronounced among those who earn too much to receive premium subsidies.

So why aren’t more people who refuse to buy Obamacare policies forced to pay tax penalties? One reason is that the Obamacare statute does not permit the IRS to collect the penalty in cases where premiums would exceed 8 percent of an uninsured person’s income. That is a high bar: The average household spent 5.5 percent of its income on health-insurance premiums last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


Read more at the National Review....

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    David Ross

    Call me at 

    678-654-9500
    • Independent Life & Health Insurance Agent
    ​• LegalShield & IDSheld Independent Associate & Director

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    Categories

    All
    Accelerated Depreciation
    Business Management
    Cost Segregation
    Credit Score
    GMG Savings
    Health Insurance
    Identity Theft
    Legal
    Life Insurance
    Marketing
    Property Cost Allocation
    Property Tax
    Stryde Savings
    Tax Benefits

    Tweets by @DrDavidRoss
Contact David Ross & Associates at 678-654-9500
2720 Riverside Drive #7063, Macon GA 31209
david@davidrossandassociates.com


David Ross is a licensed life & health insurance agent representing
Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Clover Health, New Era/Philadelphia American, Manhattan Life & Assurance, Family Life, Voya Financial, Banner Life, Transamerica, Protective Life, Securian/Minnesota Life, Cincinnati Life, Illinois Mutual, Mutual of Omaha, Ameritas, National General, SureBridge, and other insurance carriers. David Ross is an Independent Associate and Director of LegalShield. LegalShield and IDShield are registered trademarks of LegalShield. TrioMed is a registered trademark of National General. Some icons and photos courtesy of flaticon.com, pixabay.com, and rawpixel.com.
​

Descriptions of benefits are intended only to highlight the insured’s benefits and should not be relied upon to fully determine coverage. If any description conflicts in any way with the terms of any policy, the terms of the policy prevail. For complete benefits descriptions and conditions, see the policy.

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 David Ross & Associates 
  • Home
  • Testimonials
  • Join List
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Critical Event Protection