By 2016 every American without health insurance must pay a $695 tax each year they go without. A family must pay $2085 in additional taxes. Sounds terrible anytime more taxes are mentioned. But this tax turns out to be the best deal of all time. It is important to remember that starting in 2014 no one will be denied health insurance no matter their medical condition. So think about this for a second or two. Would most families continue to spend $13,000-$20,000 a year for health insurance when they could simply drop their coverage and buy it when needed? Sure, they face a $2085 tax for not having health insurance, but a quick calculation points out that $2085 is a lot better than $20,000!
There is a $2000-$3000 tax per employee for employers with 50 or more employees that don’t offer group health insurance. Again, every employer will jump at the chance to pay a couple of thousand per employee as opposed to $12,000 currently. And this isn’t like individual coverage where it can be argued that most people are decent, honest, hard working folks and won’t game the system. In business, if your competitor just cut thousands of dollars in expenses such as the health insurance premium, you will be forced to do the same if you want to stay in business.
The fingers are crossed that this law is overturned, the sooner the better. With $14 trillion in debt there is no way to afford this added expense.
Michael Higgins