Q&A: Six ways the health-care bill could affect you The Star-Ledger NJ.com
The revised health-care reform bill passed by the House of Representatives will eventually affect nearly every American if, as expected, President Barack Obama signs it Tuesday and the Senate approves "reconciliation" measures to the House version. Here are questions and answers involving some common scenarios.Q: I’m 28, single and healthy. I don’t have health insurance. Is it true the new law would penalize me unless I buy a health care plan? If so, why?
A: Yes, you would be penalized, through a phased-in system that kicks in four years from now: $95 or 1 percent of your taxable income in 2014, whichever is greater; $325 or 2 percent of your taxable income in 2015; $695 or 2.5 percent of your taxable income in 2016 (with a household maximum of $2,085); and amounts afterward that are based on the cost-of-living adjustment.
Here is the government’s justification for penalties: You are now what economists call a "free rider." Your decision not to pay anything for health care, they say, is tantamount to ignoring the ever-present risk that you might get sick or injured. And if you do get sick or injured now, your care is effectively paid through taxpayer funds — through charity or emergency care, for example — even though you lack the insurance plans that other people pay for. For health-care reform to be sustainable, and to make financial sense for insurance companies, even relatively healthy people must have a plan. They can’t wait until they get sick or hurt to buy one.
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