Did you know? American Indians among those exempted from health reform's individual mandate

The Lawrence Journal-World reports: "One group that won't be required to have health insurance when the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate goes into effect next year is American Indians, of which Douglas County has a larger-than-average population. The health reform law often known as Obamacare mandates that Americans carry some type of health insurance in 2014 or be fined. The 2010 law does, however, exempt certain people from that requirement: members of religious groups opposed to insurance, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, Americans who either don't make enough money to file taxes or would have to spend more than 8 percent of their income on premiums, and American Indians eligible for care through the Indian Health Service."