http://www.politico.com/static/PPM11...document2.html http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/Polit...old_letter.pdf Full Coverage: The Note: Buy Insurance or Go to Jail?
ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: The debate over whether the federal government should require all Americans to carry health insurance is heating up. The latest spark is a letter that Thomas Barthold, the chief of staff to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, sent Thursday to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Given that the health-care bill written by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus contains a $1,900 fee (or excise tax) for not buying health insurance, Ensign wanted to know what would happen if an American didn't pay the penalty. In a handwritten letter, Barthold told Ensign that under an existing provision of the Internal Revenue Code, willful failure to pay a fine can result in being charged with a misdemeanor which could carry a penalty of up to $25,000, or up to a year in jail, or both.
Buy Insurance or Go to Jail? - The Note