Now that the Employer Mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act (PPACA aka Health Care Reform) has been delayed by one year for employers with more than fifty employees, some are speculating that the Individual Mandate will be delayed as well.
Health Care Reform – Employer Mandate Delayed
According to a Reuter’s article: “The move appeared to ease the concerns of major companies about being ready to meet new reporting regulations in time for a January 1 deadline. But it raised new questions on whether Obama’s signature domestic policy is unraveling or falling prey to fears about the Democratic Party’s election prospects next year.”
In case you missed it, you can read our previous post on this headline!
Further in the same Reuter’s article: “Administration officials say the change affects less than 5 percent of businesses, as the overwhelming majority of employers already provide health coverage. But that could still involve as many as 10,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of workers, according to reform advocates.”
Health Care Reform – More Delays Speculated
“Leaders in the Republican Party and business community seized on the announcement as a sign that the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was in jeopardy, particularly the individual mandate. But administration officials and consumer advocates said Obama could not back down on the individual healthcare requirement, which is meant to ensure that enough Americans sign up so that the reform would be financially viable. The individual mandate, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld as constitutional a year ago after a lengthy legal battle, is the government’s only lever to compel young healthy people to sign up for federally subsidized coverage in new online health insurance marketplaces that are slated to begin enrolling new beneficiaries on October 1. If too few younger adults enroll, insurance costs could soar and jeopardize the entire reform effort…Administration officials said a delay in the individual mandate was not under consideration.”
Health Care Reform – Individual Mandate
In case you’ve forgotten:
“The mandate for individuals takes effect next year and imposes a penalty, of either $95 or 1 percent of taxable household income, on Americans who have not obtained health insurance. It rises in phases to $695 per person, with a cap of 2.5 percent of household income, by 2016. Administration officials insist that the bigger incentives for individuals to enroll are federal subsidies to buy insurance, and an expansion of the government’s Medicaid program for the poor set to take place in just under half of the 50 U.S. states in 2014.”
What do you think? Will Health Care Reform‘s Individual Mandate be delayed as well?
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