U.S. Olympic athletes are veritable pictures of health, so you’d think they’d have top-notch health insurance to help keep their minds and bodies in tip-top shape.
But, it turns out, you’d be wrong.
In fact, the health plan for about 900 elite athletes — provided through the U.S. Olympic Committee — fails to meet minimum requirements of Obamacare, according to a new analysis reported by the
Washington Post.
Under the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate, nearly all Americans are required to have qualified insurance or face a penalty, which is due when their income taxes are paid.
The U.S.O.C. recently informed the athletes about the problem, and many of them have filed for an exemption from the ACA mandate.
“We are providing a limited exemption to enrollees for the months they were covered by this plan in 2014,” said Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a statement, referring to the athletes.
He noted that the athletes were not to blame and that the U.S.O.C. is working to meet the federal law’s requirements for 2015.
Under the law, health plans must meet certain minimum requirements, including limits on out-of-pocket costs, that the U.S.O.C. plan fails to meet.
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