(Newswire.net — December 11, 2013) — Millions of people will be expected to become liable for the payment, mainly because it is cheaper to pay the penalty than to purchase the insurance.
But, not all Americans will be forced into Obamacare!
There are ordinary people that will be eligible for one or more exemptions from the individual mandate. So who may be exempt?
1. People whose household income is below the minimum for filing a tax return
2. People who cannot afford coverage because premiums exceed 8% of household income
3. Immigrants who are in the country illegally (what???)
4. Hardships
5. Native Americans who receive health care through Indian Health Care
6. People with sincere religious objections to obtaining insurance
The broadest, but maybe the hardest, is the religious objector idea. It is open to all people regardless of ethnicity or income. But it’s also open to interpretation.
To qualify, your religion must meet certain requirements AND you must partcipate in a healthcare sharing ministry.
Sharing ministries are not insurance in that there is no guarantee that a bill will be covered. A sharing ministry is a co-op in which members decide what procedures to cover and and then everybody pitches in to cover them as a group. However, any particular sharing ministry must have been in place since 1999.
You still might be eligible for the religious exemption but just declaring you object doesn’t (or won’t) cut it. The law specifically places the governement in the postion of being the arbiter of your conviction.
So if you claim to be religious and the government finds out that you don’t regularly attend church … what do you think? So much for your conviction.
Healthcare that is associated with religion may not be your cup of tea.
How about hardships?
The hardship exemption allows HHS “broad discretion to excuse compliance where stict enforcement in fact causes a hardship.”
If you decide to request an exemption under hardship, religion, or any other, you would need to request your Obamacare exemption certificate. If you don’t, you will owe a penalty to the IRS.
Penalties in 2014 are $95 per adult and $47.50 per child, or 1% of family income, whichever is greater. But in 2016 the fine can be as much as $695 per adult and $347 per child or 2.5% of family income.