Troubled by the high price of unsubsidized health insurance in the individual market, I have wondered for some time what percentage of those who buy their own insurance without benefit of subsidy are self employed and so claim the self-employed health insurance tax deduction.
I needn't have speculated. Back in October, a google search quickly brought me to detailed estimates provided by the IRS. I've written up the upshot over at healthinsurance.org:
I needn't have speculated. Back in October, a google search quickly brought me to detailed estimates provided by the IRS. I've written up the upshot over at healthinsurance.org:
In 2014, 4.2 million tax filers took the self-employed health insurance deduction, deducting a total of $28.1 billion from taxable income, according to a yearly estimate published by the IRS. That comes out to about $6,700 per filer, which indicates that a significant number are deducting premiums for more than one person. $6700 is a bit less than what a pair of 40 year-olds would pay for the average silver-level plan offered in the ACA marketplace 2014.