Chart illustrates how the mandate works

[ProSense]

How health insurance mandate will work

By Jeanne Sahadi <...>

What happens if I don't pay the penalty? The IRS will send you a letter stating that you owe the government money.

"These are not the kinds of things ... that we send agents out about. These are things where you get a letter from us," Shulman said.

Failure to pay the penalty will not be treated as a crime.

<...>

"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," according to the law.

The law also prohibits the government from putting liens or levies on your property to collect the penalty.

But based on Shulman's comments, it seems the government will be able to withhold your future refunds.

"We can actually do collection, if need be," he said. "People can get offsets of their tax returns in future years, so there's a variety of ways for us to focus on things like fraud, things like abuse."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/29/pf/taxes/health_insurance_mandate/

[banned from Kos]

1. the "penalty" is a slap on the wrist

oh the moaning and wailing though!

[dsc]

5. 2% of one's income isn't trivial

Say a single person makes 40k that would be 800. I could see where a person making 40k who is say 50 would have a tough time getting health insurance.

[ProSense]

2. Kick! n/t

[GeorgeGist]

3. kick for the night shift

[FarLeftFist]

4. It's a great idea to take it out of tax returns, this way it doesn't affect peoples budgets

Won't affect peoples weekly/monthly budgets.

[lamp_shade]

6. That chart is excellent, ProSense. Thank you. I found the link (easily readable text) and posted

it to my facebook. I commented "Still confused about how the mandate works? This chart is excellent and illustrates it in a way that everybody can understand."
http://healthreform.kff.org/the-basics/Requirement-to-buy-coverage-flowchart.aspx

[ProSense]

8. Thanks. It is extremely helpful. n/t

[SidDithers]

7. DU rec...nt

Sid

[Tx4obama]

9. K&R n/t

[Scurrilous]

10. Thanks!

K & R

[freshwest]

11. Several people asking these questions and wanting the chart. Kicking for them!

Thanks, ProSense!