Health Insurance Fiasco Stuff
Congressmonkey says if you opt out of the health insurance bill, you should also opt out of Medicare. Deal. Now, how do I go about getting a refund for what I put in it?
TennCare is a financial disaster. So is Romney-Care. But Obama-care will be different. Right?
And if you don’t buy health insurance, the IRS will not give you your tax refund.
April 7th, 2010 at 8:51 am
“Safe Estimate”.
“Withholding Allowances”.
Learn these terms. Know them. Live them.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:44 am
I made the same comment at DailyPundit, and folks dismissed the idea outright… And here we have the Commissioner of the IRS confirming what I expected from the get-go.
There is more to this “refund” issue, though. Listening to NPR about a week back, they mentioned that the HCR bill will be enforced by the IRS, but that your health insurance status will be validated by your employer or by Health & Human Services (if you receive MediCare or MedicAid). In other words, you won’t be able to lie about your health care status. So, we will all be required to state on our tax forms that we hold federally-qualified health insurance; IRS will check this with the records it received from your employer or with HHS; if your health insurance status is validated, then you get the money owed to you (i.e., your “refund”).
If you’re not in that category, this is where things get interesting.
Let’s say you plan to lie to the IRS and say you have health insurance (mark “Yes” on your tax form) when you don’t. When the IRS checks with its database or HHS, it will determine that you do not have health insurance. So, the mandate fine will be deducted from your refund FIRST, and the remainder will be applied to your income taxes. Two outcomes flow from this —
(1) If any money is left over, then it will be refunded to you. It will be a lot less than you expected, though. And God help you if you’ve already spent the money you thought you would be getting back. Of course, now you’re liable to prosecution for lying on a federal form (remember that “Yes” you marked on your return?).
(2) If what remains after deduction of the health insurance fine is insufficient to pay your income tax liability, the IRS will send you a bill for INCOME TAX NOT PAID. If you refuse to pay, you will be liable to prosecution for “tax evasion” as well as for lying on a federal form (that pesky “Yes” you thought you would get away with). The Dems were telling the “truth”: you won’t be going to jail for not having health insurance; you will be going to jail for not paying your income taxes and for lying on a federal form.
Oh, the times we’re going to have!
And with people now reportedly going to clinics and doctor’s offices asking where they get their “free” Obama health care, things are going to get even MORE exciting! See here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/06/91696/health-care-overhaul-spawns-mass.html
Folks, we are SO screwed, it goes beyond tragicomedy. I want you to picture, for just one second, the widespread effect of: (1) angry Tea Party activists; (2) angry taxpayers, screwed out of a big chunk of their tax refunds; (3) angry dumbasses (see the linked news article above) who will discover the gap between Obama’s promises and the realities of this train-wreck of a health care bill.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:43 am
And to top it all off, you can’t opt out of Medicare without giving up your social security.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:53 am
And don’t forget all the people who will “game the system” by choosing to pay the fine for not having insurance and then sign up for insurance when they get sick and need it – since insurers won’t be able to turn them down due to the pre-existing condition – then drop it again when their treatment is done. This is already happening with Romney-care. After all, the fine will be less than the cost of insurance. It only makes sense to do it that way, since you can’t be turned down for insurance anymore.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:05 am
@ParatrooperJJ opting out of everything if fine by me.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
More people will just go underground and not even file a tax return. If the gov’t thinks it is bad now they haven’t seen anything yet.