Is the $25,000 fine and 6 month imprisonment true? I've heard it several

[Maraya1969]

times today and just now from some guy who called CSPAN who said he read the bill and that it was true.

[Warpy]

1. If it is, there will be a revolution

especially if the public option is as wimpy as the talking heads have us believe and the only alternative most of us have access to is an overpriced "cooperative" of the same damn corporations who are robbing and killing us now.

[Politicub]

2. If you don;'t pay your taxes. You are already in trouble if you refuse to pay your taxes anyway.

It's not a fine for not having insurance.

The GOP is pulling the wool over eyes of morans.

[vadawg]

4. so is this a tax that we are going to be forced to pay to the insurance companies

if it is, then thats the you wont pay any more taxes if you make less than $250,000 campaign promise broke, this is not going to go down well with the voters..

[Politicub]

5. No, it isn't a tax that will go to insurance companies

Are you being disingenuous on purpose, or do you truly not understand this part of the bill?

Educate yourself.

[vadawg]

9. okay so you are saying that there is no mandate to force people to participate

that you will not be forced to buy insurance, you were the one who equated the having to buy insurance with paying taxes and the consequences of not paying them. I simply stated that it looks like a tax to me...

[Politicub]

11. I'm saying that you should educate yourself about what it is and isn't

Because this entire bill fundamentally changes many things about the system. To call it a "forced mandate" is incorrect.

[vadawg]

14. okay just answer this do you have to get the coverage

if you dont get it is their a fine, if you dont pay the fine is there further punishments. If so then its pretty much a mandated coverage isnt it...

[Politicub]

15. I don't know how to answer your question. If you don't pay any taxes

you are responsible for, you get a fine.

It is impossible to take this one part of the bill and abstract it out as something that stands on its own.

But, you already show your agenda, so I doubt you're going to take time to learn about what this bill does and doesn't do.

[vadawg]

16. your missing the point, if i dont pay my taxes i get fines etc, is this a tax

that i have to pay, if so then call it a tax increase on people, if its not a tax then its people being punished for mot giving money to the insurance companies. not sure what you dont get about this...

[Mari333]

12. looks like, if you dont buy mandated insurance, you will be punished for it

by paying more taxes. and if you dont pay the taxes, you will be punished even more.

and the dems wonder why they have lost votes in the past.

this wont fly. oh no, this wont fly at all whilst the dems bail out Wall Street .

[timeforpeace]

3. Maybe, but it's too late to worry about it now.

[marketcrazy1]

6. it appears to be true

if you can afford insurance ( according some .gov formula ) and refuse to get insurance you will be subject to a yearly fine collected by the IRS and if you refuse to pay the fine you could face criminal penalties including fines and or jail!! what a great day for America...

[Autumn]

10. "The Insurance Industry Profit Protection Act of 2009"

is just awesome.



Special thanks to MNDemNY

[Mari333]

7. this explains it somewhat

http://mediamatters.org/research/200909300004

but I wont pay it..they can kiss my ass.
they spent 632 million dollars on a BULLSHIT war this yr and they want my tax money for a watered down bullshit bill that pays off health insurance companies? fuck them. fuck THEM.

this is why the dems will lose. and this is why Im leaning towards Independent voting only for the dems who support progressive policies.

[TicketyBoo]

8. It's a $250,000 fine

for tax evasion.

[bigtree]

13. It's part of your tax tribute to ensure whatever higher payments the insurance co's

. . .will demand for coverage and make certain that you can't just walk away from the 'bargain' Congress has provided for us.

[951-Riverside]

17. Is the 6 month imprisonment mandatory and what are the conditions?

[vadawg]

18. lol isnt even one day in jail for not giving money to a private enterprise against everything americ

america is meant to be, i cant believe that anybody thinks that you being able to go to jail just because you dont want to pay for coverage is a good thing, now i would understand if it was a tax that was paid to the government but a premium to a private company...

[grasswire]

19. it sounds unconstitutional to me

how bout you?

[vadawg]

20. unconstitutional or not, i think its more likely to lead to people being tarred and feathered and

run out of time...... but i dont know if it would pass the court...

[Maraya1969]

25. I don't know the answer to that but I think I just heard the answer to the fines.

If you don't pay into the insurance plan then you will be fined 2.5% of your income. Considering that is only $2,500 for a person making 100,000/year I don't think it is that big of a deal.


And if you make below a certain level of money your premiums are going to be zero anyway so this is just for people who can afford is and refuse to buy it.

And it makes sense because 1. It helps offset the price of the health care for all and 2. It helps pay for ny catastrophic illness that people who don't want insurance can get. If a person refuses to pay the small amount they are going to be required to pay and ends up for weeks of intensive care it is going to be paid by the government and that is not fair to the rest of us.

[JustinL]

21. it's a right-wing distortion from September that's apparently been picked up on by some on the left

PolitiFact rated the claim "Barely True" when it was by the right-wing organization Americans for Prosperity.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep...

[vadawg]

22. lol barely true, does that mean its true you can go to jail for not paying

or not... what the hell does barely true mean...

[JustinL]

23. if you read the link, you'll see what they mean n/t

[L0oniX]

24. If that is true, a lot of people and cops are going to get shot. There will be a civil war.

[Mari333]

26. almost makes me want to go and buy a gun

to protect myself from being thrown into jail for not complying with the government demanding I make the insurance companies even richer than they are.

[TheWebHead]

27. those are the IRS penalties for failure to pay taxes

and the IRS will enforce the health insurance mandate. More troubling is that for those under 30 who aren't buying insurance, not only will they be subject to the mandate, but because the age variation is pegged now at 2:1 (instead of what is currently around 4/1), then those younger policyholders will see their rates immediately go up 50%, not counting whatever increases get passed along due to the elimination of pre-existing, the elimination of caps (ie. the Ian Pearls) and the existing inflation rate. So someone 29 years old for example paying $225/mo. w/ a $1k deductible could see their rates go up to $350 immediately when the bill goes into effect.