• If you are under 26 years old, you may already be able get health insurance through your
  parent’s coverage?
• Beginning in 2014, most Americans will be required to have Insurance coverage or pay a tax
  penalty! Make sure you get your insurance coverage ASAP!
• Even though most Americans will require comprehensive health insurance to fulfill the
  individual mandate, an adult under the age of 30 may be able to meet the requirements
  with a less expensive policy.
• Beginning in 2014, you may qualify for Medicaid if you earn less than 133% of the federal
  poverty level. If you earn more than 133% of the poverty level but less than 400% and don’t
  have affordable job-based insurance, you may be eligible for federal subsidies to help you
  purchase insurance independently.
• If your company has 25 or fewer employees, you may already be eligible for federal tax
  credits to help you buy health insurance for your workers.
• If your company employs 50 or more workers and don’t provide them with insurance – or
  can’t afford the insurance you offer – you may be fined starting in 2014.
• Depending on the size of your business and the state that you are located in, you may be
  able to purchase a less expensive small-group policy through a highly regulated health
  insurance exchange.
• Employers with 200 workers will be required, beginning in 2014, to enroll them in health
  insurance plans. Employees can opt out if they don’t want what’s offered, but they will still be
  required to purchase health insurance individually. New federal regulations will require that
  insurance to meet minimum standards.
• If you are enrolled in Medicare, you can already receive preventative care, such as annual
  checkups, at no out-of-pocket cost.
• If you have prescription-drug coverage through Medicare and hit what is known as “the
  doughnut hole” – in which you must cover all of your drug expenses once total costs reach
  $2,930 and until you spend $4,700 out of pocket – you may have already received deep
  discounts on brand-name drugs and a $250 rebate from the federal government.
• Beginning in 2014 insurance companies will not be able to turn you away based on your
  health status or set prices higher if you have a pre-existing health condition!
• In 2014, if you buy insurance independently, you will be able to start shopping for coverage
  that is vetted by the federal government or the state.
• By 2014 Insurance Companies will be required to price and sell policies to everyone,
  regardless of health status.
• In 2014 millions will receive federal subsidies to help them afford insurance that’s purchased
  independently.
• Subsidies will be available to people early 133% to 400% of the federal poverty level.
• States will have the option of expanding their Medicaid programs to include all individuals
  earning less than 133% of the federal poverty level.
• Individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and Couples earning $250,000 per year will
  face higher taxes in 2014.
• Nearly all American will be required to have health insurance with some notable exemptions,
  including for people whose only coverage options (after federal subsidies and employer
  contributions) exceed 8% of their income by 2014.
• Companies that employ 50 or more workers and do not provide insurance benefits or offer
  coverage their employees can’t afford will be fined.
• If you are a member of a religion that opposes health insurance, an undocumented
  immigrant, serving time in jail, a member of a Native American tribe, earning less that the
  8% of your income then you will not be penalized for not having an insurance policy.
• Annual penalties per individual will gradually increase from 2014 to 2016. In 2014 the penalty
  for not having health insurance coverage will cost $95, $325 in 2015, and $695 in 2016.
• The IRS will collect individual mandate penalties. You will either owe more or receive a smaller
  refund when filing your annual income tax return. If you refuse to pay the penalty to the IRS, the
  Affordable Care Act prohibits the agency from jailing you and seizing your property.
  

The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) In More Detail:

Employers Mandates & Obligations

• Beginning in 2015, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must offer medical coverage
  that is considered to be "affordable" and must provide minimum value to full-time employees
  and their children up to age 26 or face penalties and pay a fine. Insurance coverage is
  defined as “affordable” if employee contributions are less than 9.5% of:
• Employee's W-2 wages
• Employee’s monthly wages (hourly rate x 130 hours per month), OR Federal Poverty Level for a
  single individual A plan must pay 60% of the cost of covered health services to provide
  "minimum value."

Essential Health Benefits

• When the health reform will be fully implemented on January 1st 2014 fully insured small group
  and individual health plans must cover essential health benefits. Though states will choose
  which of the four-benchmark insurance plan options, the reform indicates that plans of all sizes
  that cover benefits designated as Essential Health Benefits, including self-funded plans, must
  cover these benefits with no annual limits or lifetime maximums. Essential health benefits are the
  following:
• Ambulatory patient services
• Emergency services
• Hospitalization
• Maternity and newborn care
• Mental health and substance abuse disorder services (including behavioral health treatment)
• Prescription drugs
• Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
• Laboratory services
• Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
• Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

Health Insurance Exchanges

• Health Insurance Exchanges are the new marketplace for the purchase of health insurance.
  Americans will have access to this marketplace through the State they reside in or through the
  Federal Government. Private insurance companies will still be available when purchasing health
  insurance.
• Plans will be available within a level of cost sharing that best fits the needs of those individuals
  and small business seeking a plan on the Exchange. The cost share levels are also referred to as
  the Actuarial Value, and are distinguished by metal level
  
• Who might use the Exchange you ask?
  

Individual Mandate

• Beginning in 2014 all US citizens and legal residents must follow the healthcare reform’s rule
  called The Individual Mandate. This rule requires everyone to maintain health coverage that
  offers what the government calls “Essential Health Benefits”. Individuals who do not purchase
  this coverage will pay a tax penalty starting in 2014.
• You are considered to have “minimal essential coverage” if you have any of the following
  • A government sponsored plan
  • Employer sponsored plan
  • Individual plan
• If a person cannot keep minimum essential coverage, the Internal Revenue Service will collect
  a tax penalty from him or her. The monthly tax penalty is described as 1/12th of the greater of:
  • For 2014: $95 per uninsured adult in the household (capped at $285 per household) or one
    percent of the household income over the filing threshold
  • For 2015: $325 per uninsured adult in the household (capped at $975 per household) or two
    percent of the household income over the filing threshold
  • For 2016: $695 per uninsured adult in the household (capped at $2,085 per household) or 2.5
    percent of the household income over the filing threshold
  • The penalty will be half of the amount for people under age 18.
  • The only exceptions to the penalty are:
  • Religious reasons
  • Not present in the United States
  • In prison
  • Not able to pay for coverage that is more than eight percent of the household income
  • An income that is below 100 percent of the poverty Level
  • Having a hardship waiver
  • Not covered for less than three months during the year