Showing posts with label Obamacare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obamacare. Show all posts

Saturday, November 9, 2013

How to Game Obamacare

"Under the Affordable Care Act, eligibility for ...subsidized health insurance through the Exchanges will be calculated using a household’s Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI).

Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) includes Wages, Taxable interest, Taxable amount of pensions, annuity or IRA distributions, some Social Security benefits, Business income, Capital gains, Ordinary dividends, Alimony received, Real estate rental income, etc...

Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) deducts 401(k) and 403(b) savings, Certain self-employed expenses, Student loan interest, Educator expenses, IRA deductions, Moving expenses, Penalty on early withdrawal of savings, Alimony paid, Domestic production activities, etc...

http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/healthcare/MAGI_summary13.pdf
.
.
According to Kaiser's Family Foundation's Subsidiy Calculator, an average US family of four making $88,000 MAGI, would not recieve an Obamacare subsidy for a Silver plan costing $8,290 per year.

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
.
.
If both parents are over 50 years old, contributing the maximum $6,500 each to a traditional IRA would lower taxable compensation for the above family making $88,000 by $13,000, leaving a MAGI of $75,000, which would create an Obamacare subsidy of $1,165 per year.
.
.
If the $13,000 IRA contributions are not taxed at a hypothetical 25% Federal income tax rate, the Federal government would have to pay out $1,165 plus lose $3,250 in taxes that otherwise would have been recieved.

$1,165 + $3,250 = $4,415 net loss to Federal tax revenues.
.
.
If 20 million households do the same thing to qualify for Obamacare subsidies, the Federal government could lose about $88,300,000,000 in tax revenues by the end of 2013's tax season.