Major Blow to Obamacare Mandate: IRS Won't Reject Tax Returns That Don't Answer Health Insurance Q.

reason.com ^ | |Feb. 14, 2017 | Peter Suderman

[GonzoII]

The tax agency has stopped requiring individual filers to indicate whether they maintained health coverage or paid the mandate penalty as required under the law

How much difference does a single line on a tax form make? For Obamacare's individual mandate, the answer might be quite a lot.

Following President Donald Trump's executive order instructing agencies to provide relief from the health law, the Internal Revenue Service appears to be taking a more lax approach to the coverage requirement.

The health law's individual mandate requires everyone to either maintain qualifying health coverage or pay a tax penalty, known as a "shared responsibility payment." The IRS was set to require filers to indicate whether they had maintained coverage in 2016 or paid the penalty by filling out line 61 on their form 1040s. Alternatively, they could claim exemption from the mandate by filing a form 8965.

[Yaelle]

Agreed. Just don’t answer. They can’t throw you into jail for not answering. The less who answer, the better.

[Yaelle]

No. Just refuse all medical services for people who can’t pay, except getting the breathing going again if possible or stopping the blood flow.

Encourage charities and free clinics for the poor.

Get people to WANT health care and pay for it. Health insurance should be more like car insurance: saved for catastrophes. If they know their kid won’t get govt free health care, they will buy some coverage, trust me.

People should mostly cash pay. This will bring costs down DRAMATICALLY. I live this way and I think twice before using medical services, and I will refuse CYA tests etc. I will shop for MRI costs and even docs. Right now I found a luxury urgent care that handles most anything for a reasonable fee. No waiting usually. They prescribe what you ask for too. So I am happy.