the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

[Slimprofits]

fascinating and good news, because i was planning on telling them to kiss my ass anyways

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.03590:

if that link to the bill is dead go to thomas and search for hr 3590 and view version 7

`CHAPTER 48--MAINTENANCE OF MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE

`SEC. 5000A. REQUIREMENT TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE.

`(g) Administration and Procedure-
`(1) IN GENERAL- The penalty provided by this section shall be paid upon notice and demand by the Secretary, and except as provided in paragraph (2), shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as an assessable penalty under subchapter B of chapter 68.
`(2) SPECIAL RULES- Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
`(A) WAIVER OF CRIMINAL PENALTIES- In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty imposed by this section, such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty with respect to such failure.
`(B) LIMITATIONS ON LIENS AND LEVIES- The Secretary shall not--
`(i) file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or
`(ii) levy on any such property with respect to such failure.'.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

Interesting reading - thanks.

The penalty for not having minimum essential coverage looks to be $95 for 2014, $350 for 2015, and $750 per year thereafter (where that $750 is adjusted for Cost of Living on a 2015 basis), capped by 8% of ones adjusted gross income (including 401K deferred compensation), with no penalty for those under the poverty line.

Medicare Part A counts for essential coverage. Those of us Americans who will be over 65 (hence typically eligible for Medicare) by the year 2014 get off Scott free.

[bw]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

Sounds lovely. And elsewhere buried in the document is perhaps a paragraph that specifies the REAL penalties, and starts with something like "Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 5000A.g.2.A, the Secretary shall ...".

[Slimprofits]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

Interesting reading - thanks.

The penalty for not having minimum essential coverage looks to be $95 for 2014, $350 for 2015, and $750 per year thereafter (where that $750 is adjusted for Cost of Living on a 2015 basis), capped by 8% of ones adjusted gross income (including 401K deferred compensation), with no penalty for those under the poverty line.

Medicare Part A counts for essential coverage. Those of us Americans who will be over 65 (hence typically eligible for Medicare) by the year 2014 get off Scott free.

does penalty in the clause I quoted refer to the monetary penalty?

If there is no fine and no punishment, there is no individual mandate and I will continue to take my chances.

[Rajiv]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

I take it to mean that there would be no criminal penalties on a failure to pay, and no further additional monetary penalties. However, I do believe that this means that you are still on the hook for the original penalties, and any interest levied upon that penalty (my interpretation anyway.)

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

does penalty in the clause I quoted refer to the monetary penalty?

If there is no fine and no punishment, there is no individual mandate and I will continue to take my chances.

Well, I really don't know if those two mentions of "penalty" are the same or not. I hesitantly guess so. I quit thinking hard when I realized that I'd be eligible for free "essential coverage" (Medicare A) in time to avoid the penalty.

I do vaguely recall reading somewhere else that the IRS (all the U.S. Federal government, actually) could now extract any debt you owed them (student loans, these penalties, ...) from any future money (Social Security, tax refunds, ...) they might ever owe you.

So those unpaid penalties could come back to haunt you, decades later, when you go to collect Social Security and the first few checks come up empty.

(You have just witnessed the birth of yet another baseless Internet rumor, most likely divorced from any connection to reality :rolleyes:.)

[Ghent12]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

I take it to mean that there would be no criminal penalties on a failure to pay, and no further additional monetary penalties. However, I do believe that this means that you are still on the hook for the original penalties, and any interest levied upon that penalty (my interpretation anyway.)

That would be my interpretation of this section as well. You can't go to jail and you can't lose your property, just your money.

Of course, your money is not your property to begin with. :rolleyes:

[Starving Steve]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

Those who leech off of the emergency rooms and emergency clinics should absolutely be made to pay a user-fee or a leeching penalty. I am sick of having to pay for those in the USA who are both unwilling to pay out-of-pocket for healthcare and also those who are unwilling to pay higher taxes so that the nation has Medicare for everyone.... Now the leeches will have to pay something, and these leeches have been those denying the rest of us national health insurance.

And who are some of these leeches? Substance-abusers. Libertarians. Pot-heads. Criminals. Gangsters. Dead-beat debtors. Drug-dealers. And sometimes, all of these, combined. :rolleyes:

Ever visit a rock concert? Notice the kind of people who show-up? These are the leeches that we all have been paying for, at least until now.

Maybe when the leeches would have to pay the first few hundred dollars of emergency room care, they might clean-up their lifestyles just a bit. So my hat goes off to Obama and the Demos for finally doing something to reform America's for-profit private healthcare system. Making the leeches pay something is a good move.

[Slimprofits]

Re: the individual mandate is not actually subject to prosecution or penalty

I take it to mean that there would be no criminal penalties on a failure to pay, and no further additional monetary penalties. However, I do believe that this means that you are still on the hook for the original penalties, and any interest levied upon that penalty (my interpretation anyway.)

that seems to make sense. thanks rajiv.