Individual Mandate Information
The health care reform law includes a provision that will require all U.S. citizens and legal residents in the United States to carry health insurance in 2014. The law does provide exemptions from this responsibility and allows some individuals to waive fines associated with non-compliance in a number of situations, including a religious conscience exemption, individuals in a health care sharing ministry, illegal immigrants, incarcerated individuals, those for whom the lowest cost health plan exceeds 8% of income individuals who have an income below the tax filing threshold ($9,350 for an individual and $18,700 for a married couple in 2009), and members of Indian tribes.
Those who do not have coverage either under a “Grandfathered” plan or a “Qualified Health Benefit Plan” will be required to pay a yearly financial penalty of the greater of $695 per person (up to a maximum of $2,085 per family), or 2.5% of household income, which will be phased-in from 2014-2016.
The penalty will be phased-in according to the following schedule: the greater of $95 or 1.0% of taxable income in 2014, the greater $325 or 2.5% of income in 2015, and the greater of $695 or 2.5% of income in 2016. Beginning after 2016, the penalty will be increased annually by the cost-of-living adjustment. Those individuals who go without coverage for less than three months in a year would also have the fee waived.
For questions and additional information about the Individual Mandate, please email COSE’s advocacy team.
(Section 1501: Requirement To Maintain Minimum Essential Coverage)