Tom Howell Jr.

Taxpayers duck Obamacare tax, snubbing IRS

Taxpayers are already telling their accountants they plan to stiff the IRS on the Obamacare tax, saying they figure the chances the agency comes after them for a few hundred bucks are pretty slim, and it makes sense to take the risk.

February 25, 2015

Orrin Hatch: Administration put insurers over regular Americans in plans for Obamacare ruling

A powerful Republican senator says the administration is offering a parachute to insurers under threat by a Supreme Court ruling that could gut Obamacare this June, even as it says nothing to everyday HealthCare.gov enrollees who would lose their subsidies if the justices rule against President Obama's overhaul.

February 25, 2015

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS secretary: No plan to deal with Obamacare subsidies case

The Obama administration broke its silence and told Congress Tuesday it has no plan to deal with the "massive damage" that would result from a Supreme Court decision that invalidates Obamacare's subsidies in most of the states.

February 24, 2015

H&R Block study: Majority of Obamacare clients paying back subsidy

A majority of Obamacare customers who received government subsidies last year to get covered on state and federal health exchanges must pay back a portion to the IRS, according to an H&R Block study released Tuesday.

February 24, 2015

Obamacare subsidy error forces thousands to re-file taxes

Tax season just got more complicated for hundreds of thousands of Americans, as the Obama administration scrambles to fix an error affecting one out of every five Obamacare customers who received government subsidies to help them pay for coverage on HealthCare.gov.

February 22, 2015

Obamacare officials admit blunder: 800K got faulty tax info from federal website

Bowing to intense pressure, the Obama administration said Friday it will give uninsured Americans exposed to Obamacare's tax for lacking insurance a six-week grace period to enroll in coverage on HealthCare.gov and avoid heftier penalties next year, even though they missed last weekend's deadline to sign up.

February 20, 2015

Vermont the 3rd state to offer relief for Obamacare penalty payers

Uninsured Vermonters who realize they must pay a special tax for lacking health insurance in 2014 can enroll in the state's health exchange even though they missed Obamacare's signup deadline, the state announced Thursday, making it the third state to extend relief to penalty payers.

February 19, 2015

Many uninsured are ignorant of Obamacare mandate tax and lapsed coverage deadline: survey

More than four out of every 10 people likely to be sanctioned for not having health insurance in 2014 heard "nothing or only little" about the Obamacare tax penalty, according to a new study that underscores the potential backlash administration officials could face from uninsured Americans before the April 15 tax deadline.

February 19, 2015

David Vitter will hold up nominee until he gets answers on Obamacare ‘exemption’ for Congress

Republican Sen. David Vitter has informed the Obama administration's personnel chief that he will hold up the nomination of her deputy until he gets answers about how Congress is treated under Obamacare.

February 19, 2015

Obama admin takes victory lap over Obamacare figures after signup deadline

Obamacare is working and here to stay, the administration declared Wednesday in extolling last-minute activity that pushed signups to 11.4 million nationwide, including 8.6 million from the HealthCare.gov marketplace that serves 37 states and is under threat at the Supreme Court.

February 18, 2015

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to thank U.S. for Ebola aid during D.C. visit

Liberia's president is set to speak on Capitol Hill later this month, marking her first visit to Washington since she declared a state of emergency to deal with the Ebola outbreak that gripped West Africa last summer.

February 18, 2015

Obamacare enrollment deadline gets winter weather extension

First it was man-made website glitches, and now it's Mother Nature's wrath that have given Obamacare supporters the excuse to extend application deadlines in the second open enrollment for the health exchanges.

February 17, 2015

White House touts 11.4 million Obamacare signups-and-counting after deadline

More than 11 million people selected a health plan under Obamacare during the enrollment period that ended Sunday, the White House announced Tuesday in the first peak at how many customers flocked to the exchanges in the law's second round.

February 17, 2015

Washington state offers two-month reprieve for Obamacare enrollment deadline

Washington state's health exchange announced Monday that residents who face Obamacare's tax penalty for lacking health insurance can qualify for a special enrollment period through April 17, even though Sunday was the deadline to sign up for coverage.

February 16, 2015

Democrats urge Obama to give the uninsured more time to sign up, avoid Obamacare penalty

With the second Obamacare enrollment period in the books, congressional Democrats are already calling on the administration to give those who missed Sunday's deadline more time. They say it's unfair to expect health care consumers to have followed the law's coverage mandate because their first round of Obamacare taxes aren't due until April.

February 16, 2015

Officials push Obamacare sign-ups ahead of Sunday’s enrollment deadline

The Obama administration pleaded Sunday with uninsured Americans to sign up on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, warning it is their "last chance" to get health insurance for the year.

February 15, 2015

Obamacare deadline looms as affordable subsidies at risk in court

The administration is herding last-minute Obamacare shoppers into HealthCare.gov before Sunday's deadline to get insured, even as a looming Supreme Court decision could make that coverage unaffordable for many of them before the year's end.

February 12, 2015

Ron Klain, Ebola czar, stepping down: White House

President Obama said Thursday that his Ebola czar, Ron Klain, is planning to return to the private sector, signaling a further wind-down in the fight against the deadly virus that's killed over 9,000 in West Africa.

February 12, 2015

Obama promotes HealthCare.gov with goofy web video targeted at young enrollees

President Obama reached into an old bag of tricks to tout his health care law Thursday, taking part in a humorous web video to spread the word about Sunday's deadline to sign up.

February 12, 2015

Obama lauds U.S. troops, workers in fight against Ebola

President Obama on Wednesday praised U.S. troops and aid workers who entered Ebola's hot zone in West Africa as paragons of American leadership who've set the stage for victory over the deadly virus that's killed more than 9,000.

February 11, 2015