No, Virginia; that's not a tax — it's a  fine!

Senate bill fines people refusing health coverage

Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the fines will raise around $36 billion over 10 years. Senate aides said the penalties would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage. Under the federal legislation, families would pay higher penalties than individuals.

Yes; modeling the "ACES" bill on California law wasn't good enough; our next go-to state for sensible financial management is... Massachusetts.

Called "shared responsibility payments," the fines would be set at least half the cost of basic medical coverage, according to the legislation.

... The fines would be collected through the income tax system.

... all the bills would require insurance companies to sell coverage to any applicant, without charging higher premiums for pre-existing medical conditions. The poor and some middle-class families would qualify for government subsidies to help with the cost of coverage. The government's costs would be covered by a combination of higher taxes and cuts in projected Medicare and Medicaid spending.

I am so, so tempted to break out the vain language. Instead, I will take a deep breath... slowly... slow...

AHHHHHH—

DOESN'T ANYONE NOTICE THIS?!

I has a feeling I'm going to be seeing a lot of Mr. Mugatu in the next two or three years.

It's "crazy pills" all the way down, I'm afraid.



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IN OTHER NEWS, Senate aides are busily beating the thesauri for alternative ways of saying "taxes" without saying "taxes."

"Shared responsibility payments." Feh.