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After the celebration of the holidays are over most Americans will receive a unexpected gift in 2015, a rise in their health insurance, but it doesn’t end there the individual mandate also takes effect.

This will be the first year where individuals will have to report to the Internal Revenue Service whether they had health insurance in 2014.  If they do not they will face a tax penalty, which rises each subsequent year.

Individuals, who were uninsured in 2014, can see if they qualify for the many exemptions, most of these would have to involve some sort of financial hardship.

This is not the only aspect of the Affordable Care Act or better known as Obamacare to take effect in 2015, the employer mandate will begin to be implemented in 2015.

The employer mandate is where businesses with 100 or more employees will have to provide healthcare for their employees or face a penalty. The USA Today reported a majority of small businesses say the Affordable Care Act already has hurt their profits, forcing them to reduce or postpone investment, withhold raises or trim other types of benefits, according to a new survey by the top small-business trade group.

USA Today continued to report  Under the health care law, businesses that employ at least 100 full-time workers — or full-time equivalents, including part-time workers — must offer health benefits to at least 70% of those working at least 30 hours a week by Thursday, or pay a penalty.

By Jan. 1, 2016, those companies must provide insurance to 95% of their workers, and firms with 50 to 99 employees must offer coverage as well.

Businesses in low-wage sectors, such as restaurants, retail and warehousing, are feeling bigger effects because health insurance represents an outsize share of their total employee costs, says Rob Wilson, head of Employco, a human resources outsourcing firm.

More of these companies are beginning and have already relegated many employees to part time positions to avoid paying the penalties.

Businesses are not the only one who will begin to feel the pain, but all across the country will see their health insurance premiums and deductibles rise by an average of 15% or higher.

This year the real threat to the entire aspect of Obamacare comes in March when the U.S. Supreme Court begins to hear a challenge to the healthcare law regarding federal subsidies.

Federal subsidies were part of the Affordable Care Act as a way to entice the states to set up their own state exchange, but 36 states chose not to set their own. By not establishing a state exchange they are not entitled to any federal subsidies as per the law, the court will announce its decision in June if this is constitutional or not..

If the court rules its unconstitutional Obamacare will collapse into a death spiral, as everyone who has received a subsidy will lose it.

The law was supposed to reduce healthcare costs but all we have seen is costs rise instead of bending the cost curve down.

Embattled architect of Obamacare Jonathan Gruber stated, “So what’s different this time? Why are we closer than we’ve ever been before? Because there are no cost controls in these proposals. Because this bill’s about coverage. Which is good! Why should we hold 48 million uninsured people hostage to the fact that we don’t yet know how to control costs in a politically acceptable way? Let’s get the people covered and then let’s do cost control.”

This will be a pivotal year for the president’s signature issue.