“I would say it would affect nobody,” Antos said. He said Republicans’ dislike of the requirement has much more to do with their opposition to “the federal government telling you to do something that is your personal business” than the fear that the mandate will force millions of people to buy something they don’t want.
The poorest Americans are technically exempt from the mandate. But under the law’s Medicaid expansion, which also begins in 2014, they would get essentially free coverage anyway — because the program would cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. That would be about $30,000 for a family of four if the law were in effect this year.
Those with incomes between 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty — between around $30,000 and $92,000 for a family of four this year — will have to get insurance, but the law provides substantial subsidies to help make it more affordable.
Families at the bottom of this range would have to pay only 3 percent to 4 percent of their income in premiums, while those at the top would have to pay 9.5 percent. The federal government picks up the rest of the tab.
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