Pope Francis shows Democrats how to take back America

[ProSense]

50. Change:

The bottom 26 percent of income earners are eligible for Medicaid under the expanded rules. That's nearly 17 million newly eligible people, and millions more will qualify for subsidies. There is a new tax on high-income earners and the wealthy to help pay for the law.

Reported when the law passed in 2010:

A big chunk of the money to pay for the bill comes from lifting payroll taxes on households making more than $250,000. On average, the annual tax bill for households making more than $1 million a year will rise by $46,000 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington research group. Another major piece of financing would cut Medicare subsidies for private insurers, ultimately affecting their executives and shareholders.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24leonhardt.html

It's the law, 2013:

Net Investment Income Tax

A new Net Investment Income Tax goes into effect starting in 2013. The 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax applies to individuals, estates and trusts that have certain investment income above certain threshold amounts. The IRS and the Treasury Department have issued proposed regulations on the Net Investment Income Tax. Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail or hand delivered to the IRS. For additional information on the Net Investment Income Tax, see our questions and answers.

Additional Medicare Tax

A new Additional Medicare Tax goes into effect starting in 2013. The 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax applies to an individual’s wages, Railroad Retirement Tax Act compensation, and self-employment income that exceeds a threshold amount based on the individual’s filing status. The threshold amounts are $250,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly, $125,000 for married taxpayers who file separately, and $200,000 for all other taxpayers. An employer is responsible for withholding the Additional Medicare Tax from wages or compensation it pays to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. The IRS and the Department of the Treasury have issued proposed regulations on the Additional Medicare Tax. Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail or hand delivered to the IRS. For additional information on the Additional Medicare Tax, see our questions and answers.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Affordable-Care-Act-Tax-Provisions

California Obamacare Enrollment Tops 400,000

More than 400,000 Californians have enrolled in health coverage under Obamacare as of Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The numbers are preliminary. State officials said enrollment had spiked with the approaching Monday deadline for signing up for coverage that starts in January: 27,000 people enrolled Sunday -- more than HealthCare.gov, which is serving 36 states, signed up in all of October.

The Obama administration has repeatedly pledged that enrollment would spike ahead of this week's deadline. President Obama said last week that more than 500,000 people enrolled through HealthCare.gov in the first three weeks of this month alone -- more than doubling the total enrollments that the federal website saw in October and November combined.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/california-obamacare-enrollment-400k

100,000-plus Kentuckians sign up for health insurance

FRANKFORT, KY. — More than 100,000 Kentuckians can mark another item off their shopping lists: medical coverage.

Kentucky’s state-operated online insurance marketplace has had a rush of people signing up for policies over the past month so that they would receive coverage beginning Jan. 1.

Gwenda Bond, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, said officials had geared up for the anticipated surge.

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As of Monday afternoon, 74,054 people had enrolled in Medicaid and 26,042 in private health insurance plans.

- more -

http://www.courier-journal.com/viewart/20131223/BUSINESS/312230053/100-000-plus-Kentuckians-sign-up-health-insurance

Total ACA Enrollments actually closer to 8 Million.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024216660

2 Million People Visited HealthCare.gov Ahead Of Deadline

Two million people visited HealthCare.gov on Monday, the ostensible deadline to sign up through Obamacare for health coverage that starts in January, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The administration announced Monday, though, that anyone who enrolled in coverage by the end of the day Tuesday would still be covered on Jan. 1. After Tuesday, the earliest that one's coverage would start would be Feb. 1.

The high volume forced CMS to deploy the website's queueing system, which asked a total of 129,000 people to come back later to complete their application.

CMS said that traffic remained high Tuesday, though not as high as Monday, and the queueing system had not been activated.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obamacare-website-hits-december-deadline