Pelosi's healthcare bill: get insurance or go to jail

The lights burn inside of the House of Representatives side of the U.S. Capitol late Saturday night, Nov. 7, 2009 in Washington as the health care bill is debated. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Can't afford health insurance or simply don't want to pay for coverage?  If the healthcare reform bill proposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that was being debated into the late hours Saturday passes, failure to obtain health insurance for yourself could land you in prison for five years.

A letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released on Friday confirms that failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail.  The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee commented on the JCT letter in a memo released Friday.  “The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.  A vote on the bill may come as early as Saturday night.