State’s Medicaid Rejection Won’t Penalize Thousands
Health care rules specify exemptions, penalties
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The Obama administration issued regulations Wednesday making it clear that the state’s choice not to accept Medicaid expansion funding won’t set up thousands of poor Oklahomans for penalties under the Affordable Care Act.
The rules released by the IRS and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also gave further definition to other exemptions to the federal law’s individual mandate, including members of Indian tribes and adherents of religious sects whose tenets prohibit health coverage.
But the rules also make it clear that the coverage requirement will be enforced, meaning anyone who isn’t exempt will have to pay a tax penalty if they don’t have qualifying coverage.