I just read this online and I am so angry I don't know what to do. So, I thought I would just show you why I am angry. In the following, we learn that the health care bill which is being voted on this weekend provides for a HUGE fine AND jail time if you don't have the level of health insurance that the government says you ought to have. As is noted in the end of the article, the premiums for that insurance are $15,000 a year for a family of four. If you don't maintain your health insurance, you can be fined up to $250,000 AND jailed for five years.
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD---PEOPLE WERE APPLAUDING THE RHETORIC THAT SAID "We will make sure EVERY American has health insurance.", without realizing the ramifications. I am about to explode.
Anyway, here's the text:
JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Insurance Mandate Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail
Friday, November 06, 2009
Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain acceptable health insurance coverage and who choose not to pay the bills new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax. [page 1]
- - - - - - - - - -
If the government determines that the taxpayers unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply [page 2]
- - - - - - - - - -
Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
Section 7203 misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
Section 7201 felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years. [page 3]
When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speakers bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD---PEOPLE WERE APPLAUDING THE RHETORIC THAT SAID "We will make sure EVERY American has health insurance.", without realizing the ramifications. I am about to explode.
Anyway, here's the text:
JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Insurance Mandate Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail
Friday, November 06, 2009
Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain acceptable health insurance coverage and who choose not to pay the bills new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.
Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:
H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax. [page 1]
- - - - - - - - - -
If the government determines that the taxpayers unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply [page 2]
- - - - - - - - - -
Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
Section 7203 misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
Section 7201 felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years. [page 3]
When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speakers bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.
