Fewer people paid a penalty for not having health insurance in 2015 than the year before, according to new data from the IRS.
About 6.5 million Americans paid an average penalty of $470 when they filed their income taxes in 2015, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a Wednesday letter to members of Congress.
That’s 20 percent fewer than in 2014, when 8 million taxpayers paid the penalty.
The IRS in total collected $3 billion in penalties from those who didn’t have coverage in 2015.
{mosads}According to Koskinen, seven percent of the payments were $100 or less, and 70 percent were $500 or less.
Data from 2016 is not yet available.
Under ObamaCare, the individual mandate requires individuals have health insurance or pay a penalty.
Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump have vowed to repeal ObamaCare, including the mandate, but have not agreed on when to do it or what to replace it with.
Republicans plan to repeal Obama’s signature healthcare law through the budget reconciliation process, which cannot be filibustered and only needs 50 votes to pass the Senate.