healthcare and tax penalty

[gaylasue]

Well, I did my taxes and I do hope I am one of the 800,000 whose insurance tax form is messed up.  If not, I will owe an additional $1,500 for the health insurance that I got through the government for last year!  My yearly income went up $6,000 from what I was making the previous year.  Out of the $177/month allowance I got for my policy, I have to pay back $124/month!!  I didn't even use the insurance last year either!!  It is all such a big scam!!

[countrygirl12]

I don't have health insurance so I will have to pay the penalty.  Obamacare should have never been passed in the first place.  It should be my choice if I want insurance or not. 

The problem with this is that the USA turned into lawsuit heaven which forced the costs of medical attention to go up drastically to cover doctors own insurance rates.  The trickle down is that if YOU don't have insurance to pay the difference between your co-pay (if insured) and the entire amount (surgeries routinely run in $1000's), somebody has to pay it.  In the case of people with no insurance, those funds come from Medicaid/Medicare, which are either directly funded, or heavily subsidized by the government.

On the flip side, if you are in a country (ala Canada, parts of Europe, etc) who has a nationalized healthcare system, those same funds come from you in the form of higher taxes than here.

While I do not agree with the premise of Obamacare...I do not believe the Federal Gvt has the right or authority to force an individual to buy a product, I can see the benefits of ensuring everybody has equal access to healthcare.

The thing is if you do not have insurance then you do not have surgery!  And if you need surgery and your insurance will not pay for all of it YOU pay the difference up front.  I know someone this happened to.  She went in to do the pre-op stuff and they asked her for several thousand dollars that day.  The difference between what the insurance would pay and the cost they expected.  When she did not have the money they told her to reschedule her surgery and save her money.  I likely would have hit the woman behind the desk after that.

I do not have insurance and I do not go to the doctor.  I have had people try to smart off to me saying how "they" pay for my medical.  NO they do not.  If I go to the doctor "I" pay for it with either cash or a credit card.  NOBODY pays anything for me.

If insurance was not so ridiculously high with crazy high deductibles up to $10,000 then more people could pay for it.  I mean really, if I could afford $7000-$8000 in premiums a year and then a $10,000 deductible why would I even need the insurance.

And the doctors charge WAY too much.  When you get an itemized bill and see you were charged $12 for "marking ink" and call and find out that you paid $12 for a freakin sharpie marker to write an X on your arm so the stupid doctor can know which arm to operate on it tends to make a person upset.  And if you read the details of an itemized bill 99% of the time you will find where you are charged for things they did not do, you did not use, or some unreal amount for something stupid like the ice that was put in a cup of water they brought to you.

[countrygirl12]

Well, I did my taxes and I do hope I am one of the 800,000 whose insurance tax form is messed up.  If not, I will owe an additional $1,500 for the health insurance that I got through the government for last year!  My yearly income went up $6,000 from what I was making the previous year.  Out of the $177/month allowance I got for my policy, I have to pay back $124/month!!  I didn't even use the insurance last year either!!  It is all such a big scam!!

So you were using the "allowance" at the lower income?  You are suppose to call them and tell them if there are any changes.  Most people don't report changes and hope or think they will not catch it.  I am not sure what the $177 allowance means.  I applied for the insurance because my income is so low and when I filed my taxes it said I would qualify but when I applied it said I did not qualify and that I had to purchase the plan myself.  I said "yeah whatever" and just left the site.  IF I could afford health insurance I would have it.  You are right - it is a scam and such a mess.

[southernhorizons]

I have health insurance through my employer, so I don't have to worry about Obamacare. But it is certainly not affordable for those who have to buy a plan through the marketplace. The deductibles are so high that you're better off paying the fine at the end of the year.

[ljrjess69]

i think its crazy!!!!!!!!!!