16 Mar Enrollment for ACA extended to April 30th
As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) working in Western North Carolina’s greater Asheville market I see a lot of self-employed tax payers. Many were unaware of the requirement for health insurance for 2014. The penalties for not being insured in 2015 are greater than last year and they will increase again in 2016. I encourage everyone to look into the market place an signing up for some sort of health care coverage. You may be surprised how much your subsidy will be.
Here is an excerpt from the Accounting Today article discussing how the Feds are pushing for people to enroll in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Below are some details relating to the extension of time to enroll.
Consumers will have one final six-week span between March 15 and April 30 to sign up through the Health Insurance Marketplace, but must meet all three of the following criteria to do so:
• Must owe a fee for not having insurance in the 2014 tax season;
• Didn’t know of the open enrollment period and the health care law’s requirement to have coverage;
• Is currently not already enrolled in a plan.In the current population of people that are still uninsured, 40 percent were unaware of the fee, added Andy Slavitt, acting administrator at CMS.
Fees for the 2014 tax filings were $95 for each adult or 1 percent of a household income, whichever is greater. For an example, Counihan said a family of four with a combined household of $50,000 would pay 1 percent, or $500, this year.
And the penalty will increase in subsequent years: when filing 2015 taxes, the penalty increases to $325 per person or 2 percent of household income. In the same example, instead of $500 the fee would jump to $1,000. In 2016, there is another increase to $695 or 2.5 percent, bumping the penalty to $1,250.
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