2016 penalty hike set for those with no insurance in 2015

By now we are all aware that the Affordable Care Act mandates that every individual must maintain creditable health insurance coverage. Those who do not may be subject to the annual individual shared responsibility payment, or as it is more commonly known, the “fine.”

The fine started out relatively small in order to ease people into the idea and to give a little leeway to those who took more time to get coverage. Since then, however, the fine has been increasing sharply in order to encourage everyone to comply with the law and purchase qualified health insurance. In 2016 the fine will be the greater of:

• $695 per adult and $347.50 per child up to a maximum $2,085 per family, or

• 2.5 percent of the taxpayer’s household income that is above the tax return filing threshold for the taxpayer’s filing status.

Keep in mind that if you do not maintain creditable health insurance coverage, not only are you potentially subject to the fine, but you are also leaving yourself at risk of major medical bills if something should happen to you. Another thing I would like to make you aware of is that there are a lot of medical insurances out there that are not creditable plans. Health discount programs and hospital indemnity plans for instance, would not be considered creditable coverage and you would therefore still be subject to the fine.

Coverage is available through the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace and you may qualify for a tax credit that can offset your monthly premiums. Speak with a qualified insurance agent who can go over all of the options available to you, including the Federal Exchange, and help you avoid being penalized comes tax time.

Ron Bird, an agent with Financial Concepts, specializes in Medicare and insurance services, and is certified to sell Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) Exchange Plans through Healthcare.gov. Ron can be reached at 702-346-7025 or by email at ronbird1@mesquiteweb.com.