JoeTheJuggler
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2006
- Messages
- 27,766
Do you see the word effectively or essentially in there? No? Now, I've already demonstrated that this is not the case - you simply changed the premise.
And even if it said "effectively", I'd argue against the claim. (People making the claim that the law requires you buy insurance from a for-profit private company seem to jump back and forth between a letter-of-the-law claim and an "effectively" claim, when they're both wrong.)
Effectively, nearly 50% of Americans already satisfy the minimum essential coverage mandate by getting government-provided coverage. Most of the other half get their coverage because someone else provides it for them (mostly employers or parents). Some of the currently uninsured will qualify for help (depending on what state they live in) in getting coverage--some by government-provided or subsidized coverage, and some in other ways. Only very few who can afford minimum essential coverage but don't want to get it face the choice of the mandate--either get coverage or pay the tax penalty. And there is nothing in the law that says they must buy it from a for-profit company.
To use the pathetic fallacy, the law doesn't care if you get it from your state government, a non-profit coop, your rich uncle, or a for-profit private insurance company.
See my previous. If it's true that the fact that some people don't currently (even though, BTW, the mandate doesn't take effect until 2014) have any options other than a for-profit company or the tax penalty is "effectively" requiring them to buy from a non-profit, then isn't it valid to say that the Tax Code effectively requires people to buy TurboTax?
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