Email from Mary Ruwart to her list:
Dear Freedom Lover,
April 15th is almost here. Many tax filers, especially the 20-somethings, may get a nasty surprise. Penalties for not having health insurance in 2014 will be $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater. Young, healthy workers just starting out are the least likely to buy health insurance, especially as the price for individual coverage has been inflated as much as 30% by Obamacare mandates. Every year the penalties increase (the greater of $325 or 2% of income in 2015).
Some people are discovering that they should have risked paying the penalty, rather than accepting the subsidies that come with Obamacare. Premiums were based on estimates of annual income. If it was underestimated, Obamacare enrollees might have to pay back some of their subsidy on their 1040s.
How many people are affected? H&R Block estimates that 52% of those who got Obamcare underestimated their income and have to pay some of it back. The average repayment is $530, a big hit for low income earners.
Of course, all this assumes that filers received the correct paperwork from their Obamacare insurance provider. The administration admits to sending out 800,000 erroneous statements. Two people that I know have spent hours on the phone trying to get their erroneous paperwork corrected. If they aren’t successful—and they haven’t been so far—they may have to pay money that they don’t owe or face an IRS audit.
Obamacare gives April 15th a whole new dimension of pain, especially for the workers just starting out. It gives our youth one more reason to reject the status quo and turn to liberty. That’s good because the deficit spending, unsustainable Social Security and Medicare programs, as well as the blowback from our military interventions, can only be rectified by abandoning Big Brother and embracing Lady Liberty (see, for example, Can We Keep Promises to Our Seniors Without Bankrupting Our Children and Grandchildren?).
Source Material: “IRS Sends Wrong Obamacare Tax Information,” and “Payback Requirements Surprise Obamacare Subsidy Recipients,” in Health Care News (Chicago, IL: The Heartland Institute) April 2015, p. 8 and 10, respectively.
Sincerely,
Mary J Ruwart Ph.D
I read just today on Facebook that “90 % of Americans have health unsurance”.
As an insurance professional, I say without hesitation that I don’t believe that. At all.
Many Democrats knew Obamacare was deeply problematic, but supported it nonetheless, under the logic that “It’s better to do something than nothing.”
Pelosi famously admitted that she didn’t know what was in Obamacare, saying that “First we have to pass it. Then we’ll find out what’s in it.”
Where does she get this 30% increase statistic? I’m guessing it must be an average increase. For me, equivalent coverage (1 step above “catastrohic”) increased from $105 per month to about $400. Consequently, I’ve now switched to a joint plan with my wife that carries a $6350 deductible, then 30% coinsurance up to a $12,700 annual out of pocket maximum. Basically, it does noting unless I have a serious medical problem. My previous plan had a $2500 deductible, then 20% coinsurance up to $5000 OOPM. Plus, I was able to make 2 doctor visits per year for just a $30 copay.
As I see it, Obamacare has put my health in real jeopardy.
For the record, I’m in my 30s and healthy.
Obamacare is a catastrophe for America. Ordinary Americans in the process of filing their taxes now associate health care reform with being lied to and ripped off by the government. Which is (not coincidentally) exactly the message the corporate media and the Republicans have been trying to convey for years.
Leave it to the Democrats to confirm that message. The people wanted a single payer system that would reign in the abuses of health trusts, control health costs, and guarantee that everyone is covered. Instead, the Democrats delivered a massive ponzi scheme in the service of health insurance trusts that increases costs and increases inefficiency.