People who qualified for health insurance & Penalty

For many, there is still time to avoid Obamacare tax penalties next year

If you didn't sign up for health insurance in the federal marketplace in 2014 and were surprised by the penalty when you filed your taxes, you may still be able to sign up for coverage and avoid a penalty next year.

The federal government has extended the health-insurance sign-up period to April 30 for people who qualified for health insurance but didn't know about the requirement and the associated penalty.

The penalty was $95 per adult and $47.50 per child in 2014. It increases to $324 per adult and $162.50 per child this year.

The fee will increase again in 2016 to $695 per

person and $347.50 per child and will be adjusted for inflation in years afterward.

Individuals can also sign up for health insurance throughout the year under special circumstances, such as having a baby, getting a divorce or changing/ losing jobs.

Keep in mind that not all uninsured people will have to pay a penalty.

For instance, the nearly 17 percent of Floridians who fall in the coverage gap, because they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to qualify for the marketplace subsidies, won't be penalized.

Medicaid currently applies to individuals whose income is at or below 50 percent of the poverty line, and marketplace sub-

sidies begin for individuals at 100 percent to 400 percent of the poverty line.

This means that anyone who earns more than 50 percent of the poverty level and less than 100 percent of that remains uninsured in Florida.

Central Floridians made up 16 percent of the state's marketplace enrollees in the previous open-enrollment period, with more than 257,000 people, according to Enroll America.