SOURCE: SOLVING THE HIGH COST OF HEALTHCARE WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY
The overarching goal of Obamacare was to expand access to health insurance, and to make it affordable.
Yet the 2013 rule (used for coverage effective from 2014 through 2022) on what constitutes “affordable” employer-sponsored coverage did nothing to make health insurance affordable or accessible for low- and moderate-income families whose employers didn’t subsidize a significant portion of dependents’ coverage.
SOLVING THE HIGH COST OF HEALTH CARE WITH OPM
The Biden administration’s goal was to change that, and the new IRS rule change highlights the fact that the goal of the ACA is to make coverage more accessible and affordable, and that the new rules are necessary in order to make that happen.
What are the new rules? It’s about making health insurance less expensive using Other People’s Money (OPM).
IMPORTANT TAKE AWAYS
- The employer mandate penalty is only triggered if an employee’s coverage is unaffordable and they receive a premium tax credit in the marketplace. There is no mechanism for triggering the penalty based on an employee’s family members receiving premium tax credits in the marketplace.
- Somewhere between 600,000 and 2.3 million newly-eligible people are expected to enroll in coverage through the exchange/marketplace, and somewhere between 80,000 and 700,000 people who are currently uninsured are expected to gain coverage.
- In conjunction with the family glitch fix, the IRS has clarified that employers can allow employees to make a cafeteria plan coverage election change to remove family members from an employer-sponsored plan as of January 2023, so that they can take advantage of newly-available premium subsidies in the marketplace. Employers are permitted to allow this, but does not require them to do so.
USE ANY OF THESE ACA WELFARE CALCULATORS TO SEE HOW MUCH OF OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY WILL REDUCE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM:
Obamacare / Affordable Care Act Subsidy Calculator – ValuePenguin
2022 Obamacare subsidy calculator | healthinsurance.org
Health Insurance Marketplace Subsidy Calculator | Affordable Health Insurance
Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator | KFF
