Where does the they "will put you in jail" crap come from?

[usregimechange]

I have never heard anything about jail time being an enforcement mechanism for any of the individual mandates in any of the bills I have read. Is this just another right wing lie or does it have any basis in reality?

[rug]

1. What will happen if you don't pay?

[usregimechange]

2. I see... Wow, I don't like that at all.

[vadawg]

4. lol i gotta say i love your reply,

i can see you sitting there going "shit i never thought of that" :) im pretty sure that as soon as one person gets fined or goes t ojail there will be a revolution, and unfortunately now the pubs can say with absolute truth we voted against it.

[valerief]

3. Well, in order to pay, you need income, so they'll deduct from your paycheck probably. nt

[HipChick]

5. same deal as IRS...only a few % end up in jail..

[vadawg]

6. lol thats okay then, only a few people will end up in jail

everyone else will pay the coverage or the fines. lol

[bob4460]

7. NO FUCKING WAY THIS WILL PASS THE SENATE

AT least I hope not

[JustinL]

8. it's a resurrection of a claim made by the right-wing organization Americans for Prosperity

The claim was rated "Barely True" by PolitiFact in September.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/29/patients-first/conservative-group-says-youll-be-imprisoned-not-ha/

[vadawg]

9. to quote someone else, is that the same as barely pregnant...

[TheWebHead]

10. I think the question is how to enforce a mandate

This is the Dave Camp correspondence making the rounds...
http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/UploadedFiles/JCTletter110509.pdf

If you look in the language of the bill, there's plenty of Internal Revenue references, though nothing specifically pertaining to IRS Sections 7201 or 7203... But if you're authorizing the IRS to collect on penalties, it stands to reason non compliance would be equivalent to failure to pay income tax and criminal penalties can result.

My opinion would be that a tax credit for those who pay for their insurance would be a better idea, and one that wouldn't be challenged on a constitutional standpoint. You could decrease the credit if costs are shared by employer, or no credit if you have a "Cadillac plan".

This buy insurance or jail approach will be politically devastating for those that voted on this bill and will likely be the primary attack they'll be receiving leading up to next November. If there is polling on up to $250k fines and jail if you don't buy health insurance, you may see 85%+ saying it's a bad idea.