Thread: $750 Fines proposed for not having health insurance

$750 Fines proposed for not having health insurance

A proposal being shopped around by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., calls for fining Americans who do not buy health insurance, the Associated Press reports.

Here's the explanation:

The fines would be the stick to enforce a proposed requirement that all Americans get health insurance, much as auto coverage is now mandatory.

The penalties would start at $750 a year for individuals, and $1,500 for families. Households making more than three times the federal poverty level — about $66,000 for a family of four — would face the maximum fines. For families, it would be $3,800, and for individuals, $950.

Baucus would offer carrots as well: tax credits to help pay premiums for households making up to three times the poverty level, and for small employers paying about average middle-class wages. People working for companies that offer coverage could avoid the fines by signing up.

But the fines pose a dilemma for Obama. As a candidate, the president campaigned hard against making health insurance a requirement, saying it's too expensive to mandate. White House officials have since backed away somewhat from that stance, but there's no indication that Obama would support fines.
Also today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters that he would vote for compromise legislation that did not include a public option.

The Hill reports that 23 Democrats have told constituents they will vote against health care reform in its current, unformed form, while at least 60 other Democrats have vowed to vote "no" if a Medicare-like public option is not part of the final package.

The latest Gallup Poll shows Americans "sharply divided" on reform. When asked whether they would "advise your member of Congress to vote for or against a healthcare reform bill when they return to Washington," 39% responded "against," 37% answered "for," and 24% offered no opinion.

(Aug. 4 photo of Sen. Max Baucus by J. Scott Applewhite, AP.)

Posted by Michael Winter at 04:33 PM/ET, September 08, 2009 in Washington | Permalink
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You can post a comment on the USA TODAY site at this link:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/20 ... rance.html

You can't drive a car without insurance or they will pull your license

but they are going to take your money if you don't have enough money to afford health insurance?

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

You can't drive a car without insurance or they will pull your license

but they are going to take your money if you don't have enough money to afford health insurance?

Yep, all they can think of is punishment via the vicious circle, taking blood from a turnip..impossible.

Will the U.S. accept this as coverage?

Mexico's health care lures Americans

By Chris Hawley, USA TODAY

MEXICO CITY — It sounds almost too good to be true: a health care plan with no limits, no deductibles, free medicines, tests, X-rays, eyeglasses, even dental work — all for a flat fee of $250 or less a year.
To get it, you just have to move to Mexico . . .


http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-169024-ame ... are+mexico