Earlier last week the Trump administration provided some welcome relief to pro life, pro family individuals who were currently still being forced to pay the 2018 Obamacare penalty for not buying insurance plans where the only plans available covered the cost of elective abortions or abortion inducing drugs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expanded the list of hardship exemptions for the individual mandate, allowing more people to not be required to pay the fine for not carrying insurance from an approved Obamacare provider.
Congress has already eliminated the individual mandate, but that plan does not take effect until 2019. This means that pro life Americans still have to pay the penalty this year. The penalty is $695.00, or 2.5 percent of household income, whichever is highest.
The move by the Trump administration allows pro life, pro family Americans to drop (or not carry in the first place) pro abortion plans without having to suffer from an unfair fine.
According to the Washington Examiner:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday expanded the list of hardship exemptions for the individual mandate, which requires everyone to have health insurance. CMS said people who live in a county that has only one Obamacare insurer can receive an exemption from the penalty. It also lets people avoid the fine if the only affordable plans available on the law’s exchanges cover abortion.
In California, the state mandates that all plans sold under Obamacare are required to cover elective abortions, so the newly expanded list of hardship exemptions for the individual mandate will likely bring welcome relief to many conservative families in California.
According to the Daily Signal, which cites data from the IRS, over 6.5 million people paid the Obamacare individual mandate penalty in 2016. The individual mandate was one of the most unpopular parts of Obamacare.
