WASHINGTON – Millions of young adults healthy enough to think they don’t need insurance face painful choices this year as the sign-up deadline approaches for President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Fines for being uninsured rise sharply in 2016 – averaging nearly $1,000 per household, according to an independent estimate. It’s forcing those in their 20s and 30s to take a hard look and see if they can squeeze in coverage to avoid penalties. Many are trying to establish careers or just make progress in a still-bumpy economy.

“There’s only so far one can dwindle a ramen-noodle diet,” said Christopher Rael of Los Angeles. In his late 20s, Rael is pursuing a degree in sociology and working at a children’s center to pay his bills.

With open enrollment over after Jan. 31, Rael is hoping his meager income will qualify him for Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. “I cannot afford an additional bill,” he said. He paid a fine of about $150 for being uninsured in 2014.

The minimum penalty rises to $695 in 2016 for someone uninsured a full 12 months and not eligible for one of the law’s exemptions. That’s more than double the corresponding figure of $325 for 2015.

In practice, the fines will be higher for many consumers. That’s because the law sets the penalty as the greater of $695 or 2.5 percent of taxable income this year. A study by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the average 2016 penalty at $969 per uninsured household.

Fines are collected through the tax returns of uninsured people and in most cases deducted from their tax refunds. The penalty amounts will be increased by a cost-of-living factor in future years.

Penalties are the health care law’s nudge to get healthy people into the insurance pool, helping keep premiums manageable for everyone.