WHY NOT A REPEAL?
|| By ROBERT ROMANO || The deadline for signing up for Obamacare has passed, and now 3 to 6 million uninsured Americans will have to pay penalties under the law’s individual mandate, officials in the administration of Barack Obama say.
Each will have to pay the greater of either $325 or 2 percent of income. That could mean as much as $2 billion of fines doled out by the government, in addition to any fines from the 2014 tax year, Congressional Democrats complain.
“While many of the uninsured will receive exemptions from the fee, it will apply to an estimated 2 to 4 percent of taxpayers. After paying the fee, these individuals may seek to purchase [a plan] and avoid a similar fee for 2015, only to discover that the open enrollment window closed on February 15,” Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and a group of Democrat senators wrote to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell.
So, Congressional Democrats want Obama to grant a reprieve of the individual mandate to extend the sign-up period.
“[W]e encourage the Administration to create a special enrollment period to allow these uninsured individuals who did not purchase affordable coverage in 2014, and were thus subject to the individual responsibility penalty, another chance to purchase coverage for 2015,” the senators implore.
Whether or not the law provides for such a reprieve — the Administration has granted similar amnesties for the employer mandate and other penalties required by the law — the mistake of punishing Americans for not buying health insurance is becoming apparent even to Democrats who pushed for the law’s passage.
It’s the tax that nobody wanted.
And even if the law meets its lofty enrollment goals — over the years, there will always millions more without insurance unable to escape the law’s penalties.
If Senate Democrats really wanted a reprieve from the law, they would push for a repeal of it. Which is why Congressional Republicans should be forcing votes specifically and individually, on eliminating the individual mandate penalties, for 2015, and for every year after that …
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Robert Romano is the Senior Editor of Americans for Limited Government. This piece (reprinted with permission) originally appeared on NetRightDaily.com.
10 comments
They fucked their electorate, let them stew in the juices of their own making.
Letting people die for not insuring themselves? Applause!
Taxing people for not insuring themselves? Boo!
Fining, not taxing – oh wait, we’re arguing the legality or if, yeah that’s the ticket, a tax, yeah, we’re taxing them into submission…
… That’s basically what the Supremes said: “It’s a tax, stupid.”
Can’t squeeze blood from a turnip, turnip.
Signing up is one thing, what are the retention rates? It’s kind of like car insurance in SC, people sign up, get their insurance card and stop making payments.
Some who I’ve talked to said the penalty is half what one month’s premiums would be so they’ll just pay the penalty.
… with food stamps.
Getting some to pay anything has apparently been a major issue. Just wait till they don’t get their tax refund because it goes to the fine, err uhh tax. We’ll hear the catterwalling for miles.
damn right! people should never pay a dime for medical care! no insurance, no tax, no penalty, and of course no bill when they get wheeled into emergency! why is obama trying to DESTROY america??
If only …