What is the penalty for not having health insurance in the US?
The government no longer mandates that citizens carry health coverage. While not all states and the District of Columbia require residents to obtain health insurance, those that do often assess a fine for failing to comply. Have health insurance or face a fine if you live in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, or the District of Columbia. Noncompliance with Vermont’s requirement is not punished in any way. After 2019, the federal government will no longer penalize people for not having health insurance, although several localities and states have passed their own laws requiring residents to have coverage.
Since the Trump Administration took office, the federal tax penalty for going without health insurance has been removed for 2019. In 2018, the maximum tax penalty for going without health insurance was $695 per adult and $347.50 per kid, or 2% of your annual income, whichever was greater. The purpose of the fine is to discourage people from going without health insurance and to ensure that those who do have it can afford to pay for their treatment should they get ill or injured.
Depending on the state, there may still be fines for not having health insurance
Even though the federal government will no longer penalize people for not having health insurance or for selecting a non-ACA-compliant plan, it is still necessary to research the health insurance regulations in your state. Those who do not have adequate health insurance in accordance with the legislation of a number of states are subject to fines established by those jurisdictions.
As an example of areas that still impose a fine for not having health insurance:
Jersey (New) In 2019, a health insurance penalty was implemented in this state. The cost of a bronze health insurance plan in New Jersey was used to calculate the state’s health insurance penalty. Since the state health insurance program in Massachusetts was established in 2006, there has been a health insurance penalty. Once upon a time, they did not add state-level penalties to federal health insurance fines. The federal health insurance penalty has been repealed, but in its place, a state tax will be imposed.
Uninsured residents of Vermont are now subject to a financial penalty. In 2020, the law mandating health insurance penalties took effect. DC for short. This municipality’s mayor has enacted a penalty on health insurance policies. Beginning January 2019, it is binding.
Can you go into legal trouble if you don’t have medical coverage?
Exorbitant medical expenses are a harsh reminder that the human cost of being without health insurance is too high to ignore. If you break your leg from a fall, you might be looking at thousands of dollars in medical expenses & time away from work. An inpatient hospital stay of three days might cost upwards of $30,000. Cancer, for e.g, can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat. Your own finances would have to handle these costs if you did not have health coverage.
According to a 2019 survey, the majority (66%) of bankrupt individuals cite medical expenses as a primary cause of their financial hardship. The number of individuals having insurance and the number of people struggling to pay their medical expenditures both rose as a result of the Affordable Care Act. A total of 20 million additional Americans enrolled in health insurance between 2014 and 2018 as a result of the federal government’s health insurance coverage mandate and shared responsibility payment.
According to Insurance Geek CEO and founder Brad Cummins: “Since 2019, there is no government penalty for not having health insurance.” However, “health insurance requirements” have been passed in several states and localities. There are now requirements and fines in place in the following states:
California
Massachusetts
Conditional: New Jersey
Health insurance is mandatory for citizens of the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and this information must be shown on individual income tax forms. In spite of this, Vermont law does not impose any financial sanctions on the uninsured. Being uninsured carries no repercussions outside of the aforementioned jurisdictions.
