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I don't like everything about the Affordable care act, but just FYI - going without insurance is extremely dangerous. You are one major car accident or stroke away from a medical bill that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I doubt you have that much money sitting around to cover such a cost. So you would be forced into bankruptcy. It may not happen...but then again it may, and you never know when that day comes. The gamble you are making here is really not very smart.
This. We all may whine about ACA and politics and whatnot, but people really do go bankrupt because of medical bills, and that's not a fun thing. Insurance is a necessary evil, as my dad likes to say.
In the past several months, I've had friends and family who were healthy and ended up with gallbladder surgery, kidney stones, falls that ended up with concussion and MRI, and sciatica. You could cut your finger and end up with a bad infection. You could be bitten by a poisonous snake or insect. It's the things that you don't see coming that end up hurting you. It's so tempting to think, yes I'm healthy and I could save all that money on premiums, but in reality, it really is a huge gamble where if you lose, you lose big time.
First I want to say that I'm a Democrat and like President Obama very much.
BUT - I cannot tolerate being FORCED to give free money to the insurance megaliths by participating in the Affordable Care Act. I've always saved for and paid for health care with my own money, and want to continue to do so.
I've been waiting and thinking. Then my local paper published the following regarding the fine for not participating. It's only $95 or 1% of your taxable income!
So why would anyone even WANT to participate unless you need to feed off the federal trough? For me the fine will be less than $400. Compare that to shelling out about $6500 a year for NOTHING, and having to pay a $10,000 deductible on top of that if anything major were to happen to me. And that doesn't even include anything for optical or dental care!
I've been wondering how they're going to hunt down and identify all of us who don't have insurance, anyway. Will they force doctors and hospitals to rat us out?
Anyway, I see no reason to sign up for health insurance per the "Affordable Care Act". Are any of you out there joining me in my act of civil disobedience?
I am not getting it, and since I don't get a refund, I also will not be paying the penalty.
Also, for those who keep talking about "$200,000 medical bills", that was what catastrophic insurance was for...that we got told was "junk" policy. That's exactly what it covered...you know, before it was taken away from us.
My husband and I just found that we are now able to be fully insured under obamacare for $18 a month! That includes vision!
We're paying the penalty. Neither of us is willing to force another American to pay for our insurance. It's unconstitutional and we have chosen to disregard it.
Once they started asking for vehicle tag numbers and bank account numbers (yes, they can auto debit your account whenever they choose once you're enrolled) from one of our employees, he opted out and will pay the penalty next year.
Small business must pay this year (just so you know, check with your CPA to make sure you're not penalized for not paying the penalty on time!)
Everything in this post is a lie. Premium supports are not this generous. Vision is not included. Nobody would ever be so foolish as to turn this down. It would be like somebody claiming not to have called the fire dept when his house was burning down solely because the firemen are paid by taxes. It's so implausible that it's obviously not true, especially when coupled with all the other misinformation. If you set up an auto debit with your insurance company, that's your option just like with any other bill, but nobody from the gov't is involved. Also, the employer mandate, which applies to large employers only anyway, has been delayed and is not in place this year. There have been so many absurd lies from the right about this law. Death panels ad nauseum. Wonder why they don't ever want to have a serious debate. The Republican Party has a problem with reality.
First I want to say that I'm a Democrat and like President Obama very much.
BUT - I cannot tolerate being FORCED to give free money to the insurance megaliths by participating in the Affordable Care Act. I've always saved for and paid for health care with my own money, and want to continue to do so.
I've been waiting and thinking. Then my local paper published the following regarding the fine for not participating. It's only $95 or 1% of your taxable income!
So why would anyone even WANT to participate unless you need to feed off the federal trough? For me the fine will be less than $400. Compare that to shelling out about $6500 a year for NOTHING, and having to pay a $10,000 deductible on top of that if anything major were to happen to me. And that doesn't even include anything for optical or dental care!
I've been wondering how they're going to hunt down and identify all of us who don't have insurance, anyway. Will they force doctors and hospitals to rat us out?
Anyway, I see no reason to sign up for health insurance per the "Affordable Care Act". Are any of you out there joining me in my act of civil disobedience?
Paying a tax in lieu of buying insurance isn't 'civil disobedience' genius.
Refusing to pay the tax would be civil disobedience. Accepting the legal consequences of that refusal is pretty much the definition of civil disobedience.
Feebly bleating "OK, I'll pay the tax!" and then crowing that it's civil disobedience is rather pathetic.
PS - "hunt down"?
It's just part of your tax return, genius. If you have the tax form affirming that you have AFA-qualified insurance (from your W2s, if you have appropriate employer-provided insurance - or a separate form mailed from your provider - you are familiar with tax forms, right?). Youre alarmist "They're coming for us!" hysteria makes you sound even more foolish than your 'civil disobedience' posturing did.
Yes. I am living proof of that. When some idiot plowed in to me, and then took off, fleeing from the scene, my car insurance company most certainly DID pay my medical expenses, thank you very much.
I think there's lots of wiggle room now. If you move, change jobs, if you got confused by the forms, etc., you can sign up anytime. But I could be wrong.
True, qualifying event still exists and hasn't changed but that is limited to loosing coverage, through such things as a change of work status, divorce, marriage and birth of a child. I seriously doubt you can say "I didn"t understand the forms" LOL! OP said he was going to wait to sign up until he gets sick. My point was (qualifying event aside) you cannot just "sign-up anytime". You have to wait a year to get an individual plan if you do not sign up by the end of March. So it shoots the plan out of the water for an individual to wait until they get sick to sign up.
If OP is healthy and has thousands sitting around, what makes more sense to me is that OP sign up for a very high deductible plan for catastrophic illness/injury and use the tax benefits to open an HSA.
Additionally my son wrecked his car in a single car accident. Our auto-medical covered his expenses. IF they were greater than our auto-medical coverage, our medical insurance would have kicked in.
First I want to say that I'm a Democrat and like President Obama very much.
BUT - I cannot tolerate being FORCED to give free money to the insurance megaliths by participating in the Affordable Care Act. I've always saved for and paid for health care with my own money, and want to continue to do so.
I've been waiting and thinking. Then my local paper published the following regarding the fine for not participating. It's only $95 or 1% of your taxable income!
So why would anyone even WANT to participate unless you need to feed off the federal trough? For me the fine will be less than $400. Compare that to shelling out about $6500 a year for NOTHING, and having to pay a $10,000 deductible on top of that if anything major were to happen to me. And that doesn't even include anything for optical or dental care!
I've been wondering how they're going to hunt down and identify all of us who don't have insurance, anyway. Will they force doctors and hospitals to rat us out?
Anyway, I see no reason to sign up for health insurance per the "Affordable Care Act". Are any of you out there joining me in my act of civil disobedience?
We have been thinking the same thing. My DH is an accountant and a grumpy Scotsman...resents being forced into this.
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ObamaCare's individual mandate requires that most Americans obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax penalty. The individual mandate goes into effect January 1st, 2014. The penalty will be applied to your year-end fedral modified adjusted gross income for each month you don't have health insurance or an exemption. Luckily all Americans will qualify for an exemption allowing them to enroll anytime before March 31st, 2014 in a marketplace plan.
To avoid the penalty you must enroll in a marketplace plan no later than March 31st, 2014. Remember open enrollment ends March 31st, 2014 so if you miss the deadline you won't just owe a fee, you'll have to wait until the marketplace opens again on Novemeber 15th, 2014.
Coverage Gap Exemptions and Deadlines for ObamaCare Individual Mandate
Although the mandate started January 1st, 2014 you have a 3 month grace period, due to a "short coverage gap" exemption, allowing you less than 3 months in a row without coverage in 2014 (this covers Janurary through March).
There is another coverage gap exemption that applies to those who purchase marketplace insurance between March 15th and March 31st, 2014 (this covers April since your coverage won't start until May 1st, 2014.) See below for more details on exemptions. ObamaCare Individual Mandate
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How Much is the Penalty for Not Having Insurance?
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The fee for not having insurance in 2014 is $95 per adult and $47.50 per child (up to $285 for a family) or 1% of your taxable income (for the household ?), whichever is greater. See the "How the ObamaCare Tax Penalty Works" section below for important details as the specifics of the law or more complicated than that.
NOTE: The maximum penalty cannot exceed the national average yearly premium for a bronze plan.
The most significant change created by Obamacare is the requirement that all Americans have health insurance coverage. Currently, there is no federal law requiring individuals to have health coverage; nor are employers required to provide it for their employees (except in Massachusetts and Hawaii). But starting in 2014, all Americans must have at least minimal health coverage or they will have to pay a penalty to the IRS. The deadline for obtaining coverage without incurring any penalty is March 31, 2014.
For companies with 100 or more full-time employees, the mandate was delayed for one year and takes effect in 2015. For companies with 50 to 100 full-time employees, the mandate was delayed an additional year and takes effect in 2016.
The individual health insurance mandate applies to the self-employed as well as everybody else. This is true whether you’re a self-employed sole proprietor, partner in a partnership or limited liability company, or employee of your own small corporation.
If you don't have health insurance during 2014 and later, you'll have to pay a tax penalty. The exact amount of the tax penalty is based on household income. This penalty is scheduled to be phased in over the next several years as follows:
for 2014, the penalty is the greater of $95 or 1% of income
for 2015, the penalty is the greater of $325 or 2% of income
for 2016, the penalty is the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income, and
after 2017, the $695 amount is indexed for inflation.
The penalty for children is half the amount for adults and an overall cap will apply to family payments. In addition, the penalty only applies to taxpayers who can afford insurance but do not purchase it. The Congressional Budget Offices says that of the 30 million non-elderly Americans it estimates will not have health insurance in 2016, only about six million will be subject to the tax. The remainder will be exempt because their income is too low or they qualify for another exemption. For more information, read Nolo's article on the penalty fee for the insured. What Obamacare Means to the Self-Employed | Nolo.com
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Calculating Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI):
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Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) is calculated by adding back certain items to your Adjusted Gross Income. Your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) can be found on line 38 of your Form 1040; line 22 of your Form 1040A; or line 36 of your Form 1040NR.
The following items must be added to your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) to calculate your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI):
Traditional IRA contributions that were deducted.
Student loan interest amounts deducted.
Tuition and fees deducted.
Domestic production activities deducted.
Foreign income or housing costs excluded on Form 2555.
Foreign housing deduction taken on Form 2555.
Savings bond interest excluded on Form 8815.
Adoption benefits from an employer excluded on Form 8839.
It's important, he said, to understand who is part of a "household", and to know the "modified adjusted gross income" (MAGI) earned by family members who make enough to file a federal tax return.
For instance, if you have an adult child who works at the neighborhood supermarket, lives at home and is on your insurance, his income may count, Lago said. An elderly relative earning Social Security payments could be added to the total as well.
The exchange says the description for household members goes beyond spouses and their children. Unmarried partners who need health insurance, any dependents you include on your tax return, and anyone under 21 “who you take care of and lives with you” should be included.
But don’t include partners who don’t need health coverage or their children if they are not your dependents. Nor should you include parents or other relatives who live with you but file their own tax returns.
In general, the household income includes your adjusted gross income plus any tax-exempt Social Security benefits, tax-exempt interest and tax-exempt foreign income. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) does not count.
The University of California at Berkley breaks down MAGI even more. The income should include wages, salaries and tips; taxable interest; taxable amounts of pension, annuity or IRA distributions and Social Security benefits. Other categories, such as business income, farm income, capital gains, unemployment compensation; alimony received, royalties or foreign earned income, also should be considered.
I am somewhat familiar with tax issues and I found these items pretty accurate. They may help some people understand a little better, then again, they may not.....lol. The item in red is mine as I am getting confused when they say your MAGI and household income.
If one of you requires medical care that you cannot afford to pay, the rest of your community will pay for it.
Who do you think pays for subsidies given to the insurance companies,and pays for the millions added to the Medicaid rolls?
The comunity pays whether you get insurance or if you run up a tab at the local ER.
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OP said he was going to wait to sign up until he gets sick. My point was (qualifying event aside) you cannot just "sign-up anytime". You have to wait a year to get an individual plan if you do not sign up by the end of March. So it shoots the plan out of the water for an individual to wait until they get sick to sign up. 
