PBS高端访谈:你有被你的医疗保健税的处罚惊到了么?

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: The deadline for filing your taxes is just hours away, and for several million Americans, this year is turning out to be even more complicated than usual. It's the first time since the health care law was enacted¹ that individuals must pay a penalty if they don't have health insurance. The penalty is 1 percent of income, or $95, whichever is greater.

　　But, in some cases where people received subsidies², in the form of tax credits, the calculation is tougher. Moreover, surveys showed more than half of those who could be affected³ didn't know much about the penalty.

　　Well, let's help clarify the picture with Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News and accountant Poonam Bansal. She's owner of the firm Accounting⁴ Solutions in Virginia.

　　And welcome you both.

　　So, Julie Rovner, to you first.

　　We said millions of Americans. How many people are really affected by this new health care law in terms of their taxes?

　　JULIE ROVNER, Kaiser Health News: Well, we don't know how many people are going to be paying the penalty because they didn't have insurance in 2014. That's partly because we don't know precisely⁵ how many people remained uncovered, and also, mostly, we don't know how many of those people who remained uncovered will qualify for one of the myriad⁶ exemptions⁸ from having to pay the penalty.

　　We have a better idea of who is impacted in terms of the subsidies. There are just under seven million people who were signed up for insurance on the marketplaces. Those are the people who are being theoretically affected. About 80 percent of people who got insurance coverage⁹ through the exchanges got subsidies. Those are the ones who are having to do a very complicated calculation about whether they have to get money — some of them are getting money back, and some of them will owe more money.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: And that's whether it's a state exchange or the federal exchange; is that correct?

　　JULIE ROVNER: In both cases, yes. That money was federal tax money.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: OK.

　　So, Poonam Bansal, you're the one who is dealing¹⁰ with these taxpayers¹¹. What are you seeing first in terms of the penalty that people are expected to pay? How much of an issue is that turning out to be?

　　POONAM BANSAL, Accounting Solutions: There are a lot of taxpayers who filed their — who filed for the exchange programs, got subsidies when they filled out those forms.

　　And let's say somebody didn't have a job. Then he got insurance through the marketplace, got a certain premium¹², got a certain credit, and then they got a job. They never thought they were supposed to change anything, and then they come and do their taxes and now they made way lot more money than getting the credit, and now they owe it all back.

　　Those are the kinds of shockers people are getting. There are a lot of people out there who we did taxes for ended up paying back. And they were shocked.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: It sounds like there are more people affected who bought insurance in one form or another and didn't realize that this benefit they were getting was going to add to the total income.

　　POONAM BANSAL: Exactly.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Then there are people who didn't — who didn't buy health insurance at all, don't have health insurance, and are having to pay a penalty?

　　POONAM BANSAL: Yes.

　　There are people who didn't have health insurance at all. But those are not such a very high percentage, because a lot of them are really very low-income people who couldn't afford it. And that's the reason they don't have it. And they were — or they were not very smart or educated to go to the marketplace and shop around.

　　And in those cases, we are seeing they don't really owe that much because they fall in the category that they're exempt⁷.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Julie Rovner, how good a job did the government do of educating people about this? Because we're hearing — now we're hearing that some people didn't really understand — and we just heard Poonam say, they didn't understand what they were going to owe.

　　JULIE ROVNER: Yes. Well, there are still some number of people who think that the law has been repealed¹³ or that the Supreme¹⁴ Court ruled it unconstitutional, neither of which has happened, just both of which have been debated.

　　It's not that surprising that there were some number of people who still didn't realize they were supposed to have insurance. Now, one of the things that the federal government has done, they say this year only, if that you're doing your taxes — remember, what's due today are your taxes for last year, for 2014.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

　　JULIE ROVNER: If you still don't have insurance, well the sign-up period closed in February. But there is a special enrollment¹⁵ period this year for people who are doing their 2014 taxes, finding out they have to pay a penalty, and thinking, oh, my goodness, I will have to pay another penalty for 2015, which is, by the way, larger.

　　So those people are at least getting a chance to sign up, so they won't have to pay a penalty next year for this year.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: But — so they're being given a little more time to sign up. They still have to pay their taxes.

　　JULIE ROVNER: Yes. They still have — they still owe whatever they owe for 2014.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

　　JULIE ROVNER: This is a chance for them to not owe for 2015 also.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Poonam Bansal, what are some examples of the kinds of issues you have described what some people are bringing to you? Are these difficult things to resolve? Are they relatively¹⁶ easy once people recognize what the issue is? How is it working?

　　POONAM BANSAL: Well, tax time, as I always say, involves a lot of emotions, because it involves money. Any clients, we say you have a refund¹⁷, they start hugging us. And anybody we say, you owe, feels like I'm the devil.

　　And on top of it, we have the Affordable¹⁸ Care Act, which some people owe and some people don't, and they just can't understand it. They just feel like, I'm doing something wrong. It's not that hard to resolve in terms of technicalities. I think it's people's mind-set and for them to accept it.

　　Now, just say, for example, a father is claiming his daughter dependent on his return. She's earning $10,000 a year. So, she's still young. That income is counted towards the gross family income…

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

　　POONAM BANSAL: … to get the exchange. But he didn't know that. And he didn't include that. And now he owes a penalty. So those kind of things, they just can't understand it.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So people are getting educated.

　　Julie, is the government thinking — I know you're not talking to everybody in the government. But is the sense that people will be better informed by next year, that this is just a rocky start for this whole thing?

　　JULIE ROVNER: Well, I think it's fair to say that this year has gone more smoothly¹⁹ than many expected. There was expected, particularly people who have been watching this thought there would be all kinds of backlash from people suddenly going to do their taxes and realizing they are going to have to pay, when they thought they were getting a refund, or they're losing half their refund, or the penalty for not having insurance is for most people more than $95.

　　And, by and large, we haven't heard a huge outcry about this. Obviously, there are situations where people are getting rude surprises, but there are also situations where people are getting bigger refunds²⁰ than they thought because they didn't sign up for enough of a subsidy²¹.

　　So, there's people who a happy. But there's nothing to quite educate people than going and doing your taxes and seeing this. I think a lot more people are going to know about this now than knew about it three months ago.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, as we sit here right now in Washington, there are about six more hours to go. They have got that much time to figure it out.

　　Poonam Bansal, Julie Rovner, we thank you both.

　　POONAM BANSAL: Thank you, Judy. It's nice being here.

1 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

6 myriad   

adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量

参考例句：

• They offered no solution for all our myriad problems.对于我们数不清的问题他们束手无策。
• I had three weeks to make a myriad of arrangements.我花了三个星期做大量准备工作。

7 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

8 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

13 repealed   

撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Labour Party repealed the Act. 工党废除了那项法令。
• The legislature repealed the unpopular Rent Act. 立法机关废除了不得人心的租借法案。

14 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

15 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

16 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

17 refund   

v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款

参考例句：

• They demand a refund on unsatisfactory goods.他们对不满意的货品要求退款。
• We'll refund your money if you aren't satisfied.你若不满意，我们愿意退款给你。

18 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

19 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

20 refunds   

n.归还，偿还额，退款( refund的名词复数 )v.归还，退还( refund的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Tomorrow he would return them to the store and claim refunds. 明天他要把它们退还给商店并要求退款。 来自辞典例句
• The new method means that taxpayers get refunds much faster. 这种新办法意味着纳税人可以较快地领到退还款。 来自辞典例句

21 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。