Our Government Has Repealed Obamacare – How Does This Immediately Affect You?
The biggest change to our current health-care system, which will affect the majority of Americans, is the repeal of the IRS tax penalty for the health insurance mandate.
One outcome of the repeal is that some employers are no longer providing health insurance benefits. Another effect is that healthier Americans are choosing to forgo insurance. Many top officials for health insurance companies like Aetna are saying this will cause a “death spiral” of the health insurance industry, with only the sick remaining covered. (And that coverage comes at a higher cost.)
The health insurance mandate was the tax penalty incurred for a taxpayer’s failure to become insured. The mandate also penalized businesses for their failure to help accommodate their workers eligible for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The penalty is gone, and many business owners celebrate this change. Many employees have mixed feelings about this tax law change – they applaud removing the IRS tax penalty. But still, they wonder where to purchase the most affordable health insurance.
Another effect that legislators hope to trickle down to everyone is the huge tax benefit the wealthy will enjoy with the repeal. (Tax Law Offices does not endorse this belief.) Part of the tax obligation ACA (“Obamacare”) was the additional tax imposed on those individually making more than $200,000 per year. These funds were then to be used to aid health savings accounts, fund the subsidies, and the fiscal problems with Medicare.
One of the primary benefits of the Affordable Care Act was to give more Americans the opportunity to purchase health insurance and health care without incurring tremendous debt. Even before Obamacare, all Americans had access to health insurance. However, this doesn’t mean we all could afford it. Hard-working Americans have among the highest cost of health care in the world. It is believed that the most popular reason for bankruptcy in the U.S. is accumulated personal medical costs.
Our tax and health-care systems are fractured. Maybe each needs a major overhaul. Maybe each just needs slight adjustments. But until those greater changes occur, these changes outlined above can still be expected.
By: Shavonne Taylor and Jeffrey Anton Collins. Ms. Taylor is a Law Case Manager and blogger at Tax Law Offices. Mr. Collins is a Tax Defense Attorney, formerly with the IRS. When you are looking for tax resolution services in the Chicago area, be sure to contact us today.