Newsletter 2012
Newsletter 2012
Health Care
Health Care
Print Full ArticleLast Reviewed: Jan 2013
Last Modified: Jan 2013
Health Care Legislation
Like it or not the Affordable Care Act has withstood almost all challenges to date, including scrutiny by the US Supreme Court. With democrats retaining control of the White House and the US Senate this fall any efforts to overturn the act legislatively are also dead so it appears this version of a national health care system is here to stay. The Act's provisions have been phasing in over the years. The major provisions coming on line for 2013 are the 0.9 percent Medicare tax and 3.8 percent investment income surcharge mentioned above, the reduction of contribution limits to flexible savings accounts (FSAs) to $2,500 and the increase in the AGI threshold for medical expense deductions from 7.5% to 10%, also mentioned above. The biggest changes start in 2014 as the first year the mandatory insurance requirements kick in. There will be noncompliance penalties assessed for those without insurance that are required to have it. There are credits available to help lower income individuals and families pay for the cost of insurance and the noncompliance penalties are pretty low in the initial years so there are some elements of the law that try to take the edge off the burden of compliance, at least at the beginning. The other big change for 2014 is the mandate that employers with more than 50 employees provide coverage to their employees or pay substantial penalties. There are some positive elements to the Act coming on line as well, mostly in the form of prohibiting certain insurance company practices that were very punitive and hurtful, like denying and excluding coverage due to pre-existing conditions and imposing annual coverage limits.
