“Starting in 2019, you’ll no longer owe a fine to the IRS if you don’t have qualifying health insurance coverage. While the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, imposed a tax penalty for those who opted out of coverage, the mandate was eliminated with the tax reform law passed in late 2017.
Posts Tagged ‘Oswego’
Why You Still Absolutely Need Health Insurance Despite the Death of the Penalty
Monday, May 20th, 2019‘Sham’ Sharing Ministries Test Faith Of Patients And Insurance Regulators
Monday, May 20th, 2019“Sheri Lewis, 59, of Seattle, needed a hip transplant. Bradley Fuller, 63, of nearby Kirkland, needed chemotherapy and radiation when the pain in his jaw turned out to be throat cancer. And Kim Bruzas, 55, of Waitsburg, hundreds of miles away, needed emergency care to stop sudden —and severe — rectal bleeding.
Each of these Washington state residents required medical treatment during the past few years, and each thought they had purchased health insurance through an online site.
A Rare Loss for U.S. Pharma Lobby Will Cost the Industry Billions
Monday, April 9th, 2018“Deep in a budget deal Congress passed earlier this year — just 118 words in Section 53116, a little before passages on prison reporting data and payment yields for seed cotton — was a hit to pharmaceutical companies that will cost them billions, and could signal more losses to come. (more…)
Illinois insurers seek premium increases of up to 45%
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016The Chicago Sun Times reports:
“Health insurance premiums for Illinois residents who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace could increase by as much as 45 percent according to proposals submitted by insurers and made public Monday.
The leading insurer on Illinois’ exchange, Blue Cross Blue Shield, is proposing increases for 2017 ranging from 23 percent to 45 percent for individual health care plans, according to proposals posted by Healthcare.gov. Another insurer, Coventry Health Care of Illinois, proposed rate increases as high as 21 percent.
Obamacare Encounters Another Bump in the Road
Thursday, April 28th, 2016According to News Max Finance:
” Well, the hammer has fallen: The largest health insurer in the U.S. has started pulling out of select Obamacare exchanges.
Five months ago UnitedHealth, which had been singing sunny songs to investors about its bright future on the exchanges, abruptly began crooning the blues. In an earnings call barely a month after executives assured investors that all was going swimmingly, they confessed that they were losing a ton of money on their Obamacare policies and described a pattern that sounded as if consumers were gaming the system — signing up for a few months, using a ton of services, and then canceling their policies. If this continued, they said, they would have no choice but to pull out of the exchange business. (more…)
Health Care Penalties In 2015: How To Avoid Obamacare Fee And Report Insurance Status To IRS
Tuesday, January 13th, 2015International Business Times reports:
“Millions of Americans who forwent buying health insurance in 2014 could face penalties in the coming year, the first such fees since open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, began in October 2013. The fine is part of President Barack Obama’s landmark law that requires all taxpayers to divulge their health insurance status to the Internal Revenue Service when filing their federal income tax returns. People who qualify for an exemption can avoid paying the penalty, but there is a little bit of extra paperwork involved.
Obamacare-Created Insurer Goes Under, Is Taken Over By The State
Tuesday, January 13th, 2015“An Obamacare-created and taxpayer-funded insurance company in Iowa has been taken over by the state due to a financial crisis.
CoOportunity Health is Iowa’s insurance cooperative — a nonprofit insurance company created by the Affordable Care Act to supposedly undercut the large, for-profit insurers that Democrats castigated as “greedy” and “evil” during the debate over health care reform.
Bill Regulates Specialty Drug Co-pay Maximum
Friday, October 3rd, 2014From Aetna health plans:
ILLINOIS: Legislators introduced a bill last week that would require health plans providing prescription drug coverage to ensure that any required copayment or coinsurance for drugs on a specialty tier not exceed $100 per month for up to a 30-day supply of any single drug.The measure also states that a beneficiary’s annual out-of-pocket expenditures for prescription drugs should not be more than 50 percent of the dollar amounts in effect under ACA. Health plans would also be required to implement an exceptions process allowing enrollees to request an exception to the tiered cost-sharing structure. Health plans also would be prohibited from placing all drugs in a specialty class on a specialty tier.
It’s Time to Kick Employer-Sponsored Healthcare to the Curb
Wednesday, September 10th, 2014“A great number of people in the United States have grown accustomed to having their employer pay for, or at least subsidize their healthcare costs. That usually takes the form of employer-provided health insurance plans, which have become a staple of most compensation packages for full-time employees that are working in positions that require even menial amounts of skill — and shutting out, for the most part, unskilled or low-wage workers. On the surface, it is a bit odd that we rely on our employers to pay for our health insurance. Yet, it’s become the norm, and one of the many reasons the U.S. healthcare system, as a whole, is so complicated and for lack of a better term, screwed up.
What to consider before deciding to go without health insurance
Tuesday, February 18th, 2014The Los Angeles Times reports:
“Some people may elect to forgo coverage if they believe the cost is too high. But health experts say they may not be aware of all the risks and benefits involved.
Sarah Giron wants health insurance, but she says it’s just not in her budget. “It’s so expensive,” says the 34-year-old stay-at-home mom in Riverside County.
