By BRYAN THOMPSON

So you file your income tax return, and find you owe Uncle Sam $500—not for taxes, but for not having health insurance last year. The penalty is $95 per adult, or 1 percent of income—whichever is greater. Fifty-thousand dollars of income works out to a $500 penalty.

As many as 6 million individuals and families may have to pay this year. If you don’t have insurance for 2015, your penalty next year will rise to $325 per adult, or 2 percent of income, whichever is greater. But the enrollment period ended Feb. 15.

The Obama Administration has announced a special enrollment period for those who didn’t realize the consequences of not signing up. It gives taxpayers who face penalties for going without health insurance last year one last chance to change course, and avoid the larger penalty next year.

The special enrollment period is only available in states — like Kansas and Missouri — that rely on the federal marketplace (or FFM, for Federally Facilitated Marketplace). To be eligible, applicants must show that they:

Currently are not enrolled in coverage through the FFM for 2015;
Attest that when they filed their 2014 tax return they paid the fee for not having health coverage in 2014; and
Attest that they first became aware of, or understood the implications of, the Shared Responsibility Payment after the end of open enrollment – Feb. 15, 2015 – in connection with preparing their 2014 taxes.
The Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU) has advised navigators at safety net clinics around the state to offer to work with tax preparers in their communities.

“Let them know they’re out there, and what they can do to help get people enrolled, so that they don’t face that penalty,” said Katrina McGivern, KAMU’s policy and public affairs director.

McGivern said there’s no need to hire additional navigators, but it is important to make sure tax preparers know where to send customers who want to take advantage of the additional sign-up opportunity.

The special enrollment period will run from March 15 through April 30. If a consumer enrolls in coverage before the 15th of the month, coverage will be effective on the first day of the following month.

This year’s tax season is the first time individuals and families will be asked to provide basic information regarding their health coverage on their tax returns. Individuals who could not afford coverage or met other conditions may be eligible to receive an exemption for 2014. To help consumers who did not have insurance last year determine if they qualify for an exemption, the government also launched a health coverage tax exemption tool today on HealthCare.gov and CuidadodeSalud.gov.

“We recognize that this is the first tax filing season where consumers may have to pay a fee or claim an exemption for not having health insurance coverage,” said Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “Our priority is to make sure consumers understand the new requirement to enroll in health coverage and to provide those who were not aware or did not understand the requirement with an opportunity to enroll in affordable coverage this year.”

According to CMS, about three quarters of all taxpayers will only need to check a box when they file their taxes to indicate that they had health coverage in 2014 through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans care or other qualified health coverage that qualifies as “minimum essential coverage.”

The remaining taxpayers – about one-quarter – will take different steps. It is expected that 10 to 20 percent of taxpayers who were uninsured for all or part of 2014 will qualify for an exemption from the requirement to have coverage. A much smaller fraction of taxpayers, an estimated 2 to 4 percent, will pay a fee because they made a choice to not obtain coverage and are not eligible for an exemption.

Consumers who have questions about their taxes, need to download forms or want to learn more about the fee for not having insurance, can find information and resources at www.HealthCare.gov/Taxes or www.IRS.gov. Consumers can also call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. Consumers who need assistance filing their taxes can visit IRS.gov/VITA or IRS.gov/freefile

Consumers seeking to take advantage of the special enrollment period can find out if they are eligible by visiting https://www.healthcare.gov/get-coverage Consumers can find local help at: Localhelp.healthcare.gov or call the Federally Facilitated Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325. Assistance is available in 150 languages. The call is free.

Bryan Thompson is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team.

JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says too few Americans approaching retirement have saved enough to have peace of mind during their later years.

Obama is proposing tougher restrictions on brokers who manage Americans’ retirement accounts. The change would put brokers under the stricter requirements for registered financial advisers when they handle clients’ retirement accounts.

Obama says in a speech to AARP that after a lifetime of hard work, Americans should be able to retire with dignity and a sense of security. He says the challenge is there are currently no rules requiring retirement advisers to act in their clients’ best interests.

The financial services industry opposes the proposal and says the industry is well governed by financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is teaming up with three major U.S. wireless carriers in an effort to prod more people into using its mobile wallet and undercut the rapid success of Apple’s rival payment service.

The deal announced Monday calls for Google’s tap-and-pay service to be built into Android smartphones sold by AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA beginning later his year. Smartphone owners currently have to download Google Wallet and install the app on their phone if they want to use the service.

Besides trying to make it more convenient to use Wallet, Google also is hoping to improve the nearly 4-year-old service. Toward that end, Google Inc. is buying some mobile payment technology and patents from Softcard, a venture owned by the wireless carriers.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

NEWTON, Kan. — A Halstead woman has been arrested on a warrant for a charge of involuntary manslaughter and another charge of vehicular homicide.

Kala Horton, 40, was arrested on a $10,000 bond for the charge in Harvey County.

The accident occurred on June 3, 2014, when Crystal Stauffer, 29, Newton was jogging in the 2700 block of NW 12th.

Horton was driving, stuck and killed Stauffer.

According to authorities, Horton told investigators she had been rolling up her window to prevent air and dust getting into her face from a passing vehicle.

While rolling up her window the vehicle drifted to the right. When she looked back up she saw Stauffer walking on the road, but was unable to avoid hitting her with her car.

Investigators say Horton’s speech was slow and slurred during her interview. She told them she had a stroke three weeks prior and she was having a reaction to the medications. It caused her tongue to swell.

Horton had been traveling to Newton to buy Benadryl to help her with her reaction to her medications. When asked when the last time was she had used any illegal narcotics, she responded it had been years ago.

A blood draw was done on Horton, as is the procedure for all fatality accidents. The blood was sent to the KBI laboratory for analysis and on Jan. 30, the blood test was completed. The test revealed a positive screen for methamphetamine.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas House committee has approved a bill to allow grocery stores to sell wine, liquor and full-strength beer starting in July 2018.

The measure endorsed Monday by the Commerce Labor and Economic Development Committee also would allow convenience stores to sell full-strength beer in July 2018.

The committee’s 10-7 vote sends the bill to the full House for debate.

Groceries and convenience stores currently can sell what’s known as cereal malt beverage, or weak beer.

Only liquor stores can sell other packaged alcoholic beverages.

Grocery and convenience store chains have been pushing for a change for years, and supporters argue it would make the market freer.

But critics say such a change will destroy small businesses and make it harder to prevent alcohol sales to underage buyers.

DETROIT (AP) — The death toll from crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches has climbed to 57.

The total is one more than last week. It was posted Monday on an Internet site by compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg.

Feinberg and aides are checking claims filed or postmarked before a Jan. 31 deadline to determine which are eligible for compensation. Each eligible death claim is worth at least $1 million under his guidelines. Feinberg was hired by GM to make payments.

As of Friday, he received 479 death claims and 3,866 injury claims. Of the injury claims, 94 will get compensation, up from 87 a week ago.

Feinberg has received a total of 4,345 claims. Of those, 666 were deemed ineligible, while Feinberg is reviewing or seeking documents for the rest.