Update 2/3/13: these are not “final regulations” until the comment period has passed. Information on comments to the IRS is appended st the end of this post.
We thought it couldn’t get worse:
(CNSNews.com) – In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.
Under Obamacare, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS.
via IRS: Cheapest Obamacare Plan Will Be $20,000 Per Family | CNS News.
Send your comments to
CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-148500-12), room 5203, Internal Revenue Service, PO Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044. Submissions may be hand-delivered Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-148500-12), Courier’s Desk, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC, or
sent electronically via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov (IRS REG-148500-12).
The comment period ends May 2, 2013, and there will be a public hearing “May 29, 2013, beginning at 10:00 a.m., in the Auditorium, Internal Revenue Building, 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.”
The IRS publication document can be found here, http://www.irs.gov/PUP/newsroom/REG-148500-12%20FR.pdf. The examples begin on page 67.
WingRight 
I regret that you’ve been had. The IRS document that the CNS article links to is actually a call for public comment on proposed regulations, and not the final regulations as the article claims. Furthermore the proposed regulations have nothing to due with the cost of the healthcare options, and only apply to how the ‘tax penalty’ will be calculated. As for the $20k dollar amount, I only see it mentioned in a set of hypothetical examples towards the end of the document. In short, the only time you will see the $20k is as a nice round number that the IRS used when creating their examples, nothing more.
Please take a few minutes to skim over the actual IRS document that the CNS links to. You’ll see page one that the author is wrong about this being ‘final’. Beyond that he draws illogical conclusions and is trying to paint a random example as actual regulation. With the title and how the article is put together, that article is nothing more then a deliberate attempt to mislead individuals into anger.
Posted by Patrick | February 3, 2013, 1:53 AMYou are correct, these are not “final,” until after the comment period.
however, the point of this post is the cost of coverage. The national average cost for a Bronze plan for a family of 5, which is quoted in the regulations, is (at least nominally) independent of the finalization of the regulations for the requirement to obtain coverage and the penalties owed for non-coverage.
Posted by bnuckols | February 3, 2013, 9:41 AM