thread: 2009-05-08 : Super Briefly for Seth and Rob
On 2009-05-08, Josh HB wrote:
There are, IIRC, three distinct state programs which provide health care to low-to-medium income people with various different levels of freeness, qualifying standards, etc. If your income is low enough, it's free. All of these exempt you from the fine.
The first year of the program, the fine was that you lost your exemption on your taxes.
After the first year, you instead pay a fine on your taxes for each month you did not have health insurance. This fine goes down to $0 at the lowest level.
If you are poor enough, or have employer-provided healthcare, this system basically doesn't affect you. If you are of sufficiently high moderate income and don't have insurance, you wind up paying a pretty lame fee. If you are self-employed and make a sufficiently high income at your peak points, you get taken to the cleaners to the tune of $912 a year, and probably still don't get access to a decent, cheap health plan.
It is not, in my opinion, a good system.
