Katie Pavlich
Townhall.com
1/2/2014
When the Supreme Court ruled in June 2012 that Obamacare is a tax, they weren’t kidding. Obamacare taxes and fees set to kick in this year are sure to put a dent in your wallet and in the economy.
The folks over at the Heritage Foundation have put together a list of what’s to come in 2014 to show you how you’ll be directly paying for President Obama’s signature legislation.
1. Individual Mandate Tax. The individual mandate is designed to strong-arm individuals into purchasing government-approved health insurance or facing a tax penalty. In 2014, the penalty for not purchasing insurance will be either $95 or 1 percent of annual income (whichever is greater). Very few, if any, people will end up paying just $95, because individuals with an annual income of only $9,500 or less would likely qualify for Medicaid or a hardship exemption from the mandate. The mandate increases drastically in coming years, rising to $325 or 2 percent of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016—whichever is greater.
2. Health Insurer Tax. One of the largest tax increases in the law is an annual fee imposed on health insurers based on their share of the market. It is estimated to raise $8 billion in 2014 alone. The tax will more than likely be passed on to consumers through premium increases. An actuarial analysis by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman projects that in 2014, this tax will increase premiums by 1.9 percent to 2.3 percent. And the impact will be greater in later years as the tax increases…
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Related: 11 State AGs Say Obama Breaks Law With Healthcare Changes
Eleven GOP state attorneys general charge that the Obama administration is breaking the law by sidestepping Congress to change the healthcare law, The Hill reports.
In particular, the Republican attorneys general claim the president’s executive action that allows health insurance companies to keep offering insurance plans that have been canceled for not meeting Obamacare rules is “flatly illegal under federal constitutional and statutory law.”…
