Congress’ official scorekeeper said Wednesday that roughly two million more Americans will pay penalties under President Obama’s health care law for lacking insurance than had previously been estimated.
Under the law, Americans must be insured starting in 2014 or pay a penalty assessed on their tax returns.
Shortly after the legislation passed in 2010, the Congressional Budget Office, working alongside the Joint Committee on Taxation, estimated that in 2016 roughly four million people a year would opt to pay the penalty instead of getting coverage. On Wednesday, the CBO and JCT revised that figure up to six million, citing legislation passed since 2010 as well as the weaker economic outlook.
The groups also pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year to make the health care law’s expansion of Medicaid optional for states.
Of those people who opt for the penalty, 10% are projected to be below the federal poverty level for 2016, which the CBO and JCT estimate will stand at about $12,000 for an individual or $24,600 for a family of four.
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