Special ACA Enrollment To Allay Tax Penalty Shock?

By  //  February 19, 2015

STILL A LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT INSURANCE REQUIREMENT

ABOVE VIDEO: EHealth answers the question: How much are the tax penalties for not having health insurance and when do they apply?

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Obama Administration is considering whether to give the public another chance to sign up for ObamaCare after the deadline, as calls from Affordable Care Act (ACA) allies and advocates grow for a special enrollment period.

CLICK HERE to see the Feb/Mar 2015 edition of Space Coast Medicine magazine.
CLICK HERE to see the Feb/Mar 2015 edition of Space Coast Medicine magazine.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said the department will decide within two weeks whether to allow an enrollment period around tax filing season.

The rationale for the extension centers around the projection that many people will not realize until tax-filing time that they have to pay a penalty for not having health insurance.

Ten Democratic senators, along with Independent Sen. Angus King (ME), released a letter to Burwell this week calling on the Administration to hold the special enrollment period, in which they wrote, “We are confident that this special enrollment period would build on the success of the law by allowing even more uninsured Americans to benefit from the health and financial security provided by the Affordable Care Act.”

— Dr. Jim Palermo, Editor-in-Chief

healthcare-gov-website-feb2015
The Obama Administration is considering whether to give the public another chance to sign up for ObamaCare after the February 15 deadline.

KAISER HEALTH NEWS — Last Sunday’s deadline for signing up for health insurance on the exchanges will have long passed by the time many people file their taxes this March and April.

But that may be the first time it sinks in for some people that they  owe a penalty for not having insurance last year. Consumer advocates want the government to give them a chance to sign up for 2015 coverage after the enrollment deadline.

But federal officials say they’re not making any promises.

Rachel Klein
Rachel Klein

“There’s still a lack of awareness about the requirement to have insurance and opportunities for people to get subsidies to make it more affordable,” says Rachel Klein, director of organizational strategy at Families USA, a consumer advocacy group.

Families USA and other consumer groups are urging the government to create a special enrollment period of up to 60 days for uninsured people who file their taxes after open enrollment ends on Sunday.

irs-obamacare
Uninsured consumers who missed the Feb. 15 deadline could be on the hook not only for 2014 taxes, but also for 2015.

“This is a great teachable moment,” Klein says. Last year, Families USA advocated aligning the tax filing deadline with the open enrollment deadline.

Uninsured consumers who missed Sunday’s deadline could be on the hook not only for 2014 taxes, but also for 2015.

Generally, unless people experience a life event such as marriage or loss of on-the-job coverage they can’t buy insurance on the exchanges beyond the annual enrollment period.

Meanwhile, the penalty for not having coverage is getting steeper. For 2014, it’s $95 per adult or 1 percent of annual income, whichever is greater.

In 2015, the financial consequences increase to the greater of $325 per person or 2 percent of annual income.

Although administration officials have been quoted in some news accounts saying they might consider a special enrollment period for people who file taxes after Feb. 15, it’s not a done deal by any means.

In a conference call to discuss enrollment progress on the federal exchange earlier this week, Andrew Slavitt, principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said, “Consumers should consider February 15 as their last opportunity to get coverage, and we won’t be considering anything until we get through this open enrollment period.”

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This graphic summarizes the Obamacare individual mandate tax penalty.

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.