A Smooth ROUND ONE For the Individual Mandate

95% of adults who paid state taxes in April reported having health insurance. In this first test of the state's mandatory health insurance law, just under 3% of tax filers lost their personal exemption. The state gained 9.7 million dollars. About 6,000 of taxpayers are appealing the fine. Almost 2% were exempt from the mandate because coverage, for them, is deemed unaffordable. 9,000 filers claimed a religious exemption. State House leaders, including Senate President Therese Murray are pleased.

These preliminary numbers show that health care reform is working, that is has not been disruptive and that people understand it and are complying.

The Department of Revenue says the process was surprisingly smooth, with only 1.4% of tax filers making a mistake with or forgoting to file the new Health Coverage form with their returns. The full report is here.