Posted on 01/13/2014 12:49:46 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
The Obama administration is trying to persuade millions of uninterested, or perhaps reluctant, Americans to purchase health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges. But the heart of Obamacare is coercion. If Americans fail do what the law's Democratic authors believe is best, the federal government will punish them, through the progressively higher penalties of the individual mandate, until it hurts more not to buy coverage than it does to give up and purchase it.
But what if many of those Americans rebel? Even if they know having health insurance is better than not having it, what if they refuse to be forced to buy the kind of coverage dictated by the government -- which may not really meet their needs -- at prices they don't want to pay? What then?
"I don't think Obamacare can survive without people wanting to buy it," Robert Laszewski, the respected health care analyst whose writings on Obamacare have become essential in recent months, told me in an email exchange recently. "How the hell are you going to enforce a mandate to buy something that people don't think is valuable enough to buy? If the uninsured don't start to see value in Obamacare and buy it, is the Democratic solution to fine the heck out of them until it hurts so much they have to buy it? Great political strategy!"
Of course, that's exactly what the strategy is. Democrats designed the penalty for not having "minimum essential coverage" to start low and increase rapidly. For this year, according to a chart prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the penalty is $95 per adult and $47.50 per child. But the penalty cannot rise above $285, or one percent of family income, whichever is higher. (Obamacare uses a measurement called Modified Adjusted Gross Income to determine penalties -- a measure that is usually higher than the Adjusted Gross Income many taxpayers are familiar with.)
In the second year, the penalty will rise dramatically, to $325 per adult and $162.50 per child, or two percent of family income, whichever is higher. The year after, the penalty will take another big jump, to $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, or 2.5 percent of family income. The only limit on the penalty is that it cannot be higher than the national average premium for a Bronze Plan purchased on the Obamacare exchanges. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that could be as much as $5,000 in 2016. And after that initial increase in the penalty, future penalties will rise according to the cost of living.
But Democrats in Congress feared public reaction to actually forcing Americans to write a check to the government to cover the penalty. So instead, the Internal Revenue Service, which is charged with enforcing Obamacare, will subtract the penalty from the tax refunds of those Americans who incur the penalty, provided they are due a refund. Otherwise, the IRS will not have a way to collect the money.
"In the first year, the mandate is useless," said Laszewski. "One percent isn't strong enough. The IRS can't really collect it anyway from anyone who wants to flaunt it. Then we get to the second and third year. Two percent in 2015 and 2.5 percent in 2016. Now we have real money. The IRS still can't collect it, but lots of people will still be troubled by it because they won't like getting nasty letters from the IRS."
As Laszewski sees it, the mandate could become extremely unpopular -- it's already by far the least popular part of Obamacare -- if policies are not what the public wants to buy. Who would want to be forced to buy something he or she doesn't want? That something is not insurance itself -- it is insurance that is ill-fitting and overpriced. "The problem is that the government will be hard pressed to collect a fine on something lots of people don't believe has value," Laszewski said. "This is when it will become a huge political albatross. At the core Obamacare is not sustainable, and the mandate/fine is not politically sustainable, if there are lots of middle class people who see Obamacare as a poor value."
I got in touch with Laszewski after reading an interview he did with the Washington Post's Ezra Klein in which Laszewski explained that if Obamacare had been designed by businesspeople, it might have had more features to appeal to customers. But it was designed by lawmakers and lobbyists and is something quite different. "The problem with Obamacare is it’s product driven and not market driven," Laszewski told Klein. "They didn’t ask the customer what they wanted. And I think that’s the fundamental problem with Obamacare. It meets the needs of very poor people because you’re giving them health insurance for free. But it doesn’t really meet the needs of healthy people and middle-class people."
Of course, the individual mandate forces people to buy coverage whether it meets their needs or not. And Laszewski sees a real possibility that it won't work. If enough dissatisfied Americans simply don't buy the product, he said, that would create political momentum "to get rid of the mandate/fine -- which is effectively the same thing as getting rid of Obamacare." And if that happens, the American health system will be in entirely uncharted territory.
I don't think "IF" is the correct word. I think "WHEN" is the correct word. . . . .
Why can’t the states do as they did in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1797 to invalidate a Federal Law?
Actually, Medicare is not single payer. Medicare recipients can purchase private Medicare Advantage plans under part C (private insurance subsidized by the federal government). They can purchase unsubsidized supplemental insurance to get a better grade of care than avaialable through standard Medicare. Finally, there is Medicare Part D, the Rx drug program, which is subsidized but is entirely a set of private insurance plans.
The closest to single payer that exists in the US is Medicaid, not Medicare. Most of the Obamacare enrollments have been in Medicaid. Yes, this was by design. Medicaid is horrible- I wouldn’t put my worst enemy on it. It is indeed a single payer system insofar as a recipient can’t supplement the benefits with private plans or cash payment out of pocket.
I don’t know if Insurance companies need be bankrupted; my impression is that they tried to jack prices higher than need be to take advantage of the coercive legislative cover Obamacare provides for their mega profit schemes. They’ll need to offer competitive pricing and moderate their deductibles in order to attract business.
Auto Insurance has coercive legislation forcing all those who own cars to have insurance but with a plethora of Insurance companies out there, the pricing has to be competitive and affordable.
“Since I am immune to Obozocare I have no idea about the alternatives. There are many benefits to being an American, living offshore”
I bet you would squeal like a pig under a gate if they toke your SS benefits away?
Just sit there and collect your bennies with your tail between your legs until they come for your stuff then you can start squeeeeeeeling.
Anything and everything Americans can do to frustrate, undermine, and foil this unconstitutional law is justifiable.
And a whole pigsty full of Justice Roberts won’t make this catastrophe Constitutional.
How about having the majority of people in the U.S. legally rebelling against President Barack Obama, his entire administration, AND the Entire Left of, both, major U.S. political parties, at each and every political level, as well as rebelling against all pro-left judges, at each and every judicial level, too?
The insurance companies will be sucking tailpipe if the mandates collapse.
Lest you think the ocean between us will save you, understand something: This push for tyranny is worldwide. You will feel the lash, too.
Calling Judge Napolitano!
We in South Carolina are working hard to nullify nobamacare.
South Carolina Is About To Pass A Bill To Nullify Obamacare.
” This push for tyranny is worldwide. You will feel the lash, too.”
_______________________________________________
Yes, but I am in my senior years. I expect to be six feet under when that day comes. At least I am not under Obumbo’s tyranny.
Still, I, along with my American neighbors, am immune to Obozocare. We have our own insurance here.
There is a group on FR that hate my guts because I am not there to share the pain. While I feel for them, I have my own life to live.
??? What have you been smokin’??? You live in Colorado???
;-)
Too many political cowards up and down the government chain from local all the way up to D.C.
Any private individual or group that files suit will have it dismissed due to lack of standing. The elites have invented the no standing procedure to prevent the little people from using the courts to over turn or nullify laws that are in the interest of the elites.
Ignore the personal attacks. There are none so blind as those who choose not to see.
With the trainwreck coming, it’s prudent to be overseas or have the legal and economic means to be there at the drop of a hat (permanent residency or dual citizenship).
‘(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.’.
What the Obama-care law text REALLY says on IRS enforcement of the personal Mandate fine/tax
If only the government were run by the people and not the other way around.
Every time I see a younger so-called “adult” singing the praises of 0bama and 0bamacare, I make it a point of thanking them for subsidizing my health insurance. The strange part is that most of the young ignorant morons argue that they are not doing so!
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