The White House issued new rules on Wednesday regarding the individual mandate requirements of Obamacare, stressing those that allow for exemptions from the requirement to buy insurance.
The new rules sought to play down the scope of Obamacare’s unpopular individual mandate requirement,
The Hill reports.
The exceptions, detailed by the Internal Revenue Service and the Health and Human Services Department, were included in regulations that also outlined the process by which the IRS will calculate penalties for not having insurance, The Hill reports.
Obamacare:
Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013
The individual mandate requires most taxpayers to buy insurance or pay an IRS fine. It remains one of Obamacare’s most politically unpopular provisions — and it formed the basis of the case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
HHS called the individual mandate provision a system of “shared responsibility” payments.
But the penalty for not having insurance “applies only to the limited group of taxpayers who choose to spend a substantial period of time without coverage despite having ready access to affordable coverage,” the agency said in a fact sheet provided to The Hill.
The fact sheet also noted that the Congressional Budget Office found that fewer than 2 percent of Americans will have to pay penalties under the mandate.
In 2014, those who choose not to buy insurance and don't qualify for an exemption from the mandate will have to pay a $95 fine, The Hill reports.
The penalty increases to $695 by 2016, and then rises annually based on a pre-determined formula, The Hill reports.
Obamacare:
Massive New Rules Revealed for 2013