Nearly 8.1 million people paid $1.7 billion in Obamacare penalties for not having health insurance in 2014 – the first year the fine went into effect, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Citing data from the IRS, the Free Beacon reported the new figures top an estimate from Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, who last year said preliminary figures had shown 7.5 million taxpayers paid a total of $1.5 billion in penalties in 2014.
"Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act required that individuals must have had health care coverage, qualified for a health coverage exemption, or made a shared responsibility payment with a tax return," the IRS said in its report.
"A healthcare individual responsibility payment was made on 8.1 million returns for $1.7 billion, an average of $210 per tax return paying this penalty."
GOP Sen. Tom Cotton slammed the new high numbers.
"It's not surprising that the Obamacare mandate numbers are worse than the administration first claimed,” the Arkansas Republican told the Free Beacon.
"Obamacare penalizes taxpayers who can no longer afford insurance that Obamacare made unaffordable. As Obamacare continues to unravel, things will only get worse."
"The legacy of Obamacare is skyrocketing premiums, unaffordable deductibles, the destruction of the individual insurance market, and tax penalties on Obamacare's victims," he added.
Cotton introduced a bill in July to suspend the individual mandate when health insurance premiums rise.
About 4 million individuals are estimated to pay $4 billion in penalties this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, The Free Beacon reported.
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