This bill would exempt people from the individual health insurance mandate if they were covered by a health plan issued under the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program that was eventually terminated. It would exempt those people from having to pay a tax penalty for the remaining months of the year if their health insurance plan is terminated midway through the calendar year. The bill would retroactively cover people who lost coverage and faced a tax penalty after December 31, 2013.
Under current law, individuals are required to be enrolled in a health insurance plan or pay a tax penalty for each month in which they aren’t covered. The fine is currently $695 for an adult who doesn’t have coverage for the entire year, and it’s assessed on a monthly basis so each month without coverage would result in a $57.91 penalty. There’s also an existing exemption for people who are only uncovered for one or two months so that they don’t have to pay the fee at all.