WASHINGTON
— The architects of the Affordable Care Act thought they had a blunt
instrument to force people — even young and healthy ones — to buy
insurance through the law’s online marketplaces: a tax penalty for those
who remain uninsured.
It has not worked all that well, and that is at least partly to blame for
soaring premiums next year on some of the health law’s insurance exchanges.
The
full weight of the penalty will not be felt until April, when those who
have avoided buying insurance will face penalties of around $700 a
person or more. But even then that might not be enough: For the young
and healthy who are badly needed to make the exchanges work, it is
sometimes cheaper to pay the Internal Revenue Service than an insurance
company charging large premiums, with huge deductibles.