Are you ready to be taxed for NOT having health insurance?

It is a penality or a fine. Not a tax. Call it what they want... it does not change what it is. Either you buy health insurance or you get "fined". Which makes criminals out of honest people who can't afford it. Also how are they going to know? Are you going to have to turn in "proof of insurance" along with our taxes filings every year now? It is just another money grab. And more gov. micro managing.

They can call it a tax if they like, but it's not. It's a penalty, just like if you don't pay your income taxes on time. Makes a lot of stupid sense, too.. penalize the people who can't pay for insurance. What are they going to do with people who can do neither? Take away their homes or their vehicles?

It is a fine without mucking about with due process or anything constitutional.

No, I'm not "ready to be taxed for not having health insurance" because I'm ome of the lucky ones who have it. Currently, my husband and I, our insurance company and my husband's employer are paying for those who don't have insurance, whether by choice or simply not being able to afford it, and can't afford to pay their medical bills, usually quite HIGH bills for ER visits. As it stands now I totally understand there are many people, millions of them in fact, who can't possibly afford the high premiums charged by the greedy insurance companies. Some of them have preexisting conditions and couldn't get insured even if their employer provided it in some cases. I don't "blame" those whose care I'm helping to pay for because I know it isn't their fault in most cases so if there were suddenly a penalty or tax imposed on these people I wouldn't see much point in it. Sure, with all else remaining the same, that may encourage some of the young and/or healthy people who simply choose not to get insurance to do so but for many others it would be a case of "you can't get blood from a stone". However, the idea of reform is that health care and insurance should become more affordable for everyone and that there would be subsidies for those who can't afford it. I've heard the figure of income about 300% above the poverty limit and under tossed around and that sounds fair. So, it's not as if suddenly the government is going to tell lower and middle income people without insurance that if they don't pay hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets each month in premiums they'll be fined or taxed. Those with the lowest incomes will likely pay little or nothing for their coverage and since they'll actually be able to go to a doctor's office for a visit instead of using the ER for their primary care everyone will ultimately save. I'd like to ask a question; let's just "pretend" by some miracle an agreement is reached and we actually get health care reform passed. Let's pretend that those of us who already have insurance we're satisfied with really DO get to keep it. If YOU'RE one of those people with insurance and either you, your employer or both pay your premiums and you pay your copays and deductibles will YOU be willing to continue to pay more for all of the above because some people who possibly could afford it as much as YOU can simply choose to use their money on something else and continue to depend on the ER when they do become sick? I guess an alternative would be for those who don't want insurance to sign a waiver and agree to NOT be treated, even in an emergency, unless they can pay upfront but I don't think we as a country have a the stomach for that. I think the bottom line here is SOMEONE will be taxed, fined, penalized or whatever you choose to call it, someone will PAY for those who can not or will not pay for their own or their families' health care. With costs as they are now I can't blame those who can't afford it and I'd never want anyone to be refused treatment. Having personally known people who have lost their lives because they couldn't afford the tests or treatments that may have saved them, I wish we could do more. However, IF the costs are brought down, IF health care becomes more accessible and affordable for all Americans and IF those who honestly can't afford all or part of their premiums get help paying them I won't be so ready and willing to be "taxed" for their selfishness. Annie

If it's the tax that I think you're talking about, this started last year. Unfortunately for those who are unemployed, or laid off, have to quickly get new health insurance so they can be covered for more than 6 months of the year...which, in their case, I don't think it's fair. They don't even get half of what they were earning, and now they have to pay full coverage of a health insurance. I ran into this problem just recently. I got laid off in May, and did not get approved for health insurance until August, although it does go back to the date that I applied. I ended up being approved thru the unemployment services health care, but I was getting a little irritated with their delay, because if it had gone on any longer, I would've had to pay taxes (2,000.00) if it ran into 6 months, when it wasn't my fault for the delay.

one more thing to the list of "what the Hell?", I have to say I do not understand how someone who cannot afford insurance can be expected to pay the tax for not having it. Though the one point is that the money should go to the medicaid system to help pay some of those expenses, if only we could trust the government to actually make that happen...