The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations concerning individual penalties for not purchasing insurance coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The PPACA's individual mandate — which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014 — requires individuals who do not have insurance coverage to pay a fine. According to the final IRS rules, people are considered to have met minimum essential coverage requirements for a calendar month if they're enrolled in or covered by a health plan for at least one day of that month.
Those who don't have minimum essential coverage in 2014 will have to pay a fine of $95 or 1 percent of their household income, whichever amount is larger. The fine increases to $325 for each uninsured adult or 2 percent of household income in 2015. The penalty will be $695 per person or 2.5 percent of household income in 2016.
Some groups are exempt from having to pay a penalty, such as people who are temporarily uninsured between jobs, those who oppose health insurance for religious reasons and members of Native American tribes.
The individual mandate has been a source of controversy since the PPACA became law. Earlier this month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) asked for unanimous consent to pass the Fairness for American Families Act, which would delay the mandate from going into effect until 2015. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rejected the request.
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