Several high-profile companies have recently made known that they will be directing retirees and in some cases employees to the Health Exchanges with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”). How this will wind up affecting us as taxpayers is uncertain, to say the least (See the article at this link: Workers Nudged to Health Exchanges Seen Costing U.S. Taxpayers). Since participation in the Exchanges carries the possibility of taxpayer subsidy to those with lower incomes, adding more folks to the rolls of the Exchanges will likely drive up the cost of these subsidies. And of course, that will mean increased taxes to pay for the subsidies. It makes sense for IBM, Time Warner and others to send the retirees to the Exchanges with a stipend, since the stipend will be less (presumably) than the cost to the company for health coverage in the long run. Many of the […]
2013 calendar year
Unintended Result From Obamacare?
One of the primary tenets of the Affordable Care Act legislation (Obamacare) is guaranteed healthcare insurance for all Americans. This insurance is expected to have lower premium rates than individually-purchased healthcare insurance policies – although the jury is still out on exactly what those rates will be. When the Health Insurance Marketplaces begin operation next month we’ll learn more about how this new health insurance delivery will be priced, compared with employer-provided health insurance or individually-purchased policies. If the rates are dramatically lower than the individually-purchased policy, an unintended result may occur: early retirement for many. (For more on this phenomenon, see “Obamacare could encourage more early retirements from baby boomers”.) Think about it – everyone knows at least one successful self-employed individual, and probably several, whose spouse works in a position with a large local employer (around here it’s likely the state, or a hospital or insurance company) – solely […]
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Who Will Be The Biggest Benefactors of Obamacare?
According to data cited in a recent WSJ article (The Health-Care Overhaul: What You Need to Know), there is a specific demographic that should benefit the most from the up-coming institution of the Affordable Care Act’s changes to the healthcare system. If you’re wondering why this writing seems a bit smug, it’s because I’m one of these projected benefactors: folks between age 50 and 64. Why is this group deemed the most likely to benefit? It has to do with some current realities about our nation’s health and the way that the (current and proposed) health insurance marketplace works. First of all, folks in this age group who are not covered by an employer plan, or are not covered by Medicaid, must find insurance in the private marketplace. And the reality is that folks who’ve seen half a century of life or more are typically in poorer health than younger […]
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Same-Sex Joint Filing
One result of the strike-down of DOMA is that legally-married same-sex couples will now be required to file federal tax returns as marrieds – either married-filing-jointly or married-filing-separately. This ruling takes effect on September 16, 2013. This means that, regardless of how the members of the couple filed their returns in the past, they only have the MFJ or MFS filing statuses to choose from for returns filed on or after September 16, 2013. For couples who have not filed a return for 2012, now is the time to review whether filing as Single status provides a superior result (lower overall taxes) versus the MFS or MFJ option. If filing Single or Head of Household works out better for the couple, the (presumably) extended 2012 tax return must be filed before September 16, 2013 in order to utilize a Single or Head of Household filing status. After that date, the […]
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