Saturday, April 24, 2010

4 Million Will Pay Health Care Penalty

A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report has been released, and if their predictions are correct 21 million Americans will be without health insurance in the year 2016. 4 million of them will likely be required to pay a penalty for being uninsured. According to this CNN article, the CBO is projecting the federal government could see a $4 billion per year revenue increase between 2017 and 2019.

High-income families making at least $96,000 will pay two-thirds of those fines, while families making between $24,000 and $96,000 will contribute nearly one-third of the funds collected.

Under the health care overhaul, which legislators passed in March, most U.S. residents will be required to purchase health care or pay a fine. By 2016, the penalty will be either a flat $695, or 2.5% of household income -- which ever is higher. The fines are capped based on income.

The CBO report noted the majority of the uninsured will not be subject to these fines because they belong to exempt groups including extremely low-income households, some religious sects and unauthorized immigrants.

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