People all over the United States are affected by the introduction of Affordable Care Act/Obamacare. Thus, it is important for you to learn the consequences or penalties for not signing up for this program. People who can’t afford health insurance have been taken into consideration when setting up the Affordable Care Act. Making health care insurance affordable is the ultimate objective of Obamacare and it starts by making health insurance mandatory for everyone. The number of people who are unable to pay their medical bills is reduced by this while the health insurance cost for everyone else drives up.
Consequences of not having health insurance
Fines are imposed under the Affordable Care Act, if you decide not to sign up for health insurance. Fines are due when you file your taxes. The penalty fee would be higher than it was in the previous year, about 2 % of your income, or $325 for an adult and $162.5 for a child. Each year the fine will go up. Let’s suppose in 2015, you are making $100, 000; in such case, the payable fine will be $2000.
Why you should get health insurance
Spending money on health insurance just for the sake of having health security is not such an attractive proposition for most individuals. However, there are countless other reasons that can convince you to get health insurance. For example, unexpected medical emergency like a serious accident or appendicitis can be very expensive to deal with. In such case, medical debt is likely to bankrupt you if you do not qualify for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare.
Your quality life may well be affected by the medical debt; getting health insurance under Obamacare can help you to prevent such a situation from taking place. You can also avoid expensive medical procedures by getting preventive care under the Affordable Care Act.
Enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare
You can prevent paying fines by enrolling to health insurance. On top of that, you will be protected financially by the health insurance. You may even quality for a fine waiver, if you truly cannot afford health insurance coverage. For such individuals, Medicare or Medicaid may be an option to go for. You may want to take a high deductible health insurance plan into consideration, if you feel health insurance is rather expensive. Under it, you will be given a catastrophic coverage in the event of serious illness or accidents, while paying a lower premium. You can set up a health savings account if you choose this option.
You will face the fines imposed by the Affordable Care Act if you miss the enrollment date. The timeline for enrolling for health insurance under the affordable care act, is between November 15th November 2014 to 15thFebruary 2015. If you do not enroll yourself by 15th February, it would mean you‘re ineligible to sign up for health care for the following year, barring a special enrollment period.
