Update: The Obama adminsitration has announced it will extend the deadline for anyone who started applying online before March 31, but was not able to complete an application due to technical difficulties.
By Miriam Raftery
March 23, 2014 (Sacramento) – If you don’t have health insurance, the Affordable Act requires that you purchase it by March 31, or pay stiff fines. If you’re low income, there are subsidies available to help you afford healthcare for you and your family.
March 31 is also the last day for anyone to sign up for healthcare in 2014 through Covered California (www.coveredca.com) , the new healthcare exchange programs in our state. So far, over 1 million Californians have signed up.
The law requires that you have insurance by March 31, either through Covered California, private insurance, or another program such as Medicare or TriCare for veterans. If you have no health insurance, the penalty will be the greater of the following: 1% of your family income above the tax filing threshold, or $285 per family ($95 per adult and $47.50 per child) in 2014. Rates rise steeply over the next two years.
East County News Service
By Hugh Moore, RN, El Cajon
June 3, 2011 (Sacramento) – Today the California State Senate voted 25-14 to pass SB 703, which would establish a low-cost health insurance plan to cover an estimated 720,000 people for premiums as low as $30 a month. If passed by the Assembly and signed by the Governor, the measure would provide coverage for more than 723,000 uninsured people who earn between 133% and 200% of the federal poverty level.
Recent comments