The number of uninsured Massachusetts residents that need to pay a tax penalty for not having health insurance continues to fall, according to a Boston Herald report.
In Massachusetts, where state law requires adults to be insured or face tax penalties scaled to income levels, 44,000 tax filers were assessed a penalty for failing to obtain health coverage in 2010. That's down from the 48,000 people in 2009 who were assessed the penalty and the 67,000 required to pay it the first year the law took effect, according to the report.
While it's commonly referred to as an individual mandate, the requirement to have health insurance doesn't apply to everyone in Massachusetts. People who earn too much to qualify for the state's subsidized health plan but not enough to afford the least expensive nonsubsidized plan are exempt from the mandate, according to the report.
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In Massachusetts, where state law requires adults to be insured or face tax penalties scaled to income levels, 44,000 tax filers were assessed a penalty for failing to obtain health coverage in 2010. That's down from the 48,000 people in 2009 who were assessed the penalty and the 67,000 required to pay it the first year the law took effect, according to the report.
While it's commonly referred to as an individual mandate, the requirement to have health insurance doesn't apply to everyone in Massachusetts. People who earn too much to qualify for the state's subsidized health plan but not enough to afford the least expensive nonsubsidized plan are exempt from the mandate, according to the report.
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