Affordable Care Act - Individual Rights and Responsibilities (Course Id 2767)

By changing many of the rules traditionally applicable to health insurance and imposing healthcare-related requirements on virtually every individual, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is likely to affect virtually every person in the United States in some way.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) imposes various tax increases in order to generate revenue and uses a carrot and stick approach to ensure individuals comply with its provisions by offering tax credits for compliance and, until 2019, by imposing tax penalties for non-compliance. This course will review the principal provisions of the law affecting individuals and will consider the:

• Coverage-related provisions of the PPACA addressing –
  • Plan grandfathering pursuant to which health coverage in force at the time of the law's passage may be continued,
  • The prohibition of pre-existing condition exclusions,
  • The proscription of lifetime and annual benefit limits,
  • The limitation of health coverage rescissions,
  • The requirement for certain patient protections, and
  • The requirement that plans covering children extend child coverage until age 26;
• Various personal income tax changes affecting taxpayers; and
• Tax credits authorized under the law to assist taxpayers by helping them purchase and maintain health insurance coverage.

Course Learning Objectives

• List the principal healthcare provisions of the PPACA affecting individuals;
• Identify those individuals who may be exempt from the individual mandate; and
• Calculate the tax credits designed to help ensure that individuals are able to purchase and maintain health insurance coverage.

Chapter 1
Overview of PPACA Provisions Affecting Individuals

• Identify the rules applicable to –
  o Grandfathered health plans,
  o The use of pre-existing condition exclusions, and
  o Annual and lifetime benefit limits;
• List the conditions that would permit an insurer to rescind health insurance coverage; and
• Recognize the requirements imposed by healthcare reform legislation with respect to –
  o Patient protection provisions,
  o The individual’s requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage, and
  o Dependent coverage for young adults.

Chapter 2
PPACA-Mandated Personal Tax Changes

• Identify the changes made by the PPACA related to –
  o The treatment of costs for over-the-counter drugs and medical expense FSA contributions,
  o The tax penalty for nonqualified Archer MSA and HSA distributions,
  o Medical expense deductions,
  o The additional taxation on the earnings of high-income taxpayers,
  o The additional tax on high-income taxpayers’ net investment income, and
  o The additional tax on estate’s and non-grantor trust’s undistributed net investment income; and
• Calculate the amount of the premium assistance tax credit available to taxpayers whose household income is less than 400% of the federal poverty line.