Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Delay ACA Individual Mandate Penalty

Sens. Manchin and Kirk are seeking to delay the individual mandate penalty under Obamacare.

November 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — Democratic Senator Joe Manchin II (VA) and Republican Senator Mark Kirk (IL) have drafted legislation seeking to delay the individual mandate penalty under the Affordable Care Act for one year, Roll Call reports.

The two senators announced the measure last Thursday.

“We’ve worked through a few of these issues, but our job in Congress is far from over. We need to start working together to fix this law and make it work so that all Americans have access to affordable and reliable health-care coverage,” Manchin said.

“We can start with a one-year delay of the individual mandate to eliminate penalty fees if individuals choose to not enroll for a health-care plan in 2014. This commonsense proposal simply allows Americans to take more time to browse and explore their options, making 2014 a true transition year,” he added.

Nearly all Democratic incumbents up for reelection in 2014 met with President Obama last week to discuss problems with the rollout of the Healthcare.gov website.

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