I am sure that you have heard the right wing talking point about how people should pay the $95 penalty rather than purchase insurance through "Obamacare." For example, here is an exchange between Chris Wallace and Cade Joiner (who identified himself as a small business owner) on Fox News Sunday on November 10, 2013:
JOINER: And I have looked a little at the page. But I'm sort of caught between a rock and a hard place because it's little more money than I can afford to pay every month and I don't have the subsidy. So, I've got to make a tough decision. And that decision may end up being potentially paying the fine and not taking coverage at all. I'm a 34-year-old, very healthy, never had any health care problems. So, I may just gamble.
WALLACE: So, you are saying you may just ignore the individual mandate, pay the penalty, which is $95 in the first year, and a guy who had health insurance is going to go without?
JOINER: Yes, that's a very good possibility, Chris.
This statement about the penalty being $95 is simply not correct. According to The Tax Policy Center of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution:
For 2014, the tax is the greater of a) 1.0 percent of income (net of specified deductions) or b) $95 per adult plus $47.50 per child, up to a maximum of $285 per family. However, the penalty is capped at the average cost of a bronze level health plan.
The percentage tax increases to 2 percent in 2015 and 2.5 percent in 2016 and later years. The dollar penalty rises to $325 per adult plus $162.50 per child (with a family maximum of $975) in 2015; increases to $695 per adult plus $347.50 per child (with a family maximum of $2,085) in 2016; and is indexed for inflation in subsequent years.
In each year, the penalty is capped at the national average premium for bronze level insurance plans. That average premium is projected to be:
2014: $3,600 per adult plus $1,900 per child
2015: $3,816 per adult plus $2,014 per child
2016: $4,045 per adult plus $2,135 per child
http://taxpolicycenter.org/...
In addition, NPR notes that
it's important to remember that the flat-fee penalty will be assessed for every family member who lacks health coverage.. . .
This year's top penalty could be about . . . $11,000 for a family of four."
http://www.npr.org/...
Based on this, I think that anyone listening to the right wing talking point that there is only a $95 penalty for failing to purchase insurance under the ACA is in for a rude awakening. These people could wind up paying the same amount of money out of pocket as a penalty as they would pay for bronze coverage without getting the benefit of health insurance.
Anyone not having insurance has until March 31, 2014 to sign up for coverage. This date marks the end of the open enrollment period. After that, only people with a change in condition such as a loss of a job or a divorce can sign up before the next open enrollment.
This means that anyone who does not discover that the right wing talking point is wrong until after March 31st will not be able to obtain coverage through the ACA this year.
I only hope that too many people don't delay doing their taxes until the last minute when it will be too late to sign up for coverage.