IRS Releases Inflation Adjusted Individual Affordable Care Percentages for 2018

In Revenue Procedure 2017-36 the IRS provided the 2018 inflation adjusted amounts for provisions related to the individual health care mandate and credit rules under the Affordable Care Act for 2017. 

Matters are clearly in flux, as the IRS published this table on the same day that the House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act of 2017 and sent it on to its fate in the United States Senate.  But, for now, these numbers are scheduled to be in effect for 2018.

The ruling updates the Applicable Percentage Table for 2017.  The able is used to compute the percentage which is individual is responsible for when purchasing the Second Lowest Cost Silver policy, with the premium amount in excess of that being potentially available as a credit.  The percentage increases linearly over the ranges specified in the table.

Household income percentage of federal poverty line Initial percentage Final percentage
Less
than 133%
2.01% 2.01%
At
least 133% but less than 150%
3.02% 4.03%
At
least 150% but less than 200%
4.03% 6.34%
At
least 200% but less than 250%
6.34% 8.10%
At
least 250% but less than 300%
8.10% 9.56%
At
least 300% but not more than 400%
9.56% 9.56%

The percentage used to test for whether a taxpayer had available affordable employer sponsored minimum essential coverage under IRC §36B(c)(2)(i)(II) will be 9.56% of the taxpayer’s household income in 2018. 

Finally, the percentage of household income that is used under IRC §5000A to determine if the individual qualifies for the exception from the shared responsibility penalty for not having available affordable coverage will decrease to 8.05%