Beyond the glitches: Will young and healthy Americans buy ObamaCare?

Subsidies are one way in which the administration hopes to entice young people to sign up. But if that doesn’t work, they hope the threat of a financial penalty will be enough to compel them to purchase insurance.

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However, in 2014, the mandate penalty is $95 or 1 percent of taxable income, so it isn’t a very powerful stick. For the plan referenced above, the cost of premiums would be higher than the cost of the mandate, even for somebody earning $20,000.

For somebody earning $35,000, premiums on the ConnectiCare plan would be nearly $2,500 annually, while the mandate penalty would only be about $250.

Thus, even if administration officials can fix Obamacare’s technical problems, they may have a hard time convincing young and healthy Americans to purchase insurance.

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