6 million Americans will be forced to have a tax penalty for not getting health insurance, up significantly from estimates by the Obama administration. The majority of those with the tax penalties come from the middle class. The original estimates were to be around 4 million people when the ACA was first passed. The average penalty is 1,200 for each family that did not get health insurance.
“This (analysis) doesn’t change the basic fact that the individual responsibility policy will only affect people who can afford health care but choose not to buy it,” said a spokesperson of the Obama administration. “We’re no longer going to subsidize the care of those who can afford to buy insurance but make a choice not to buy it.” Despite this the penalty may be too low, as it might be cheaper to accept the penalty than paying for insurance out of pocket.
