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Sarah Palin says Health Care Reform Will be Costly
Saturday, November 14, 2009
By Angie Drobnic Holan
PolitiFact
Sarah Palin may be in the midst of launching her new book, Going Rogue, but she still found time to post a note on her Facebook page criticizing the Democratic plans for health care.
Her note, titled "Pelosi 'Health Plan' Should Be DOA," argued that people shouldn't be compelled by the government to purchase health insurance. She also wrote that the House Democrats' measures for enforcing the new requirement, known as the individual mandate, are overly punitive.
"If you don't buy what the government considers 'acceptable health care coverage,' you’re going to be hit with a tax of at least 2.5% of your income," Palin wrote. "And if you don’t pay that new tax, you could be fined as much as $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison.
"But here’s the thing: they have to make the penalty for opting out very harsh in order to force us to buy coverage. The only way to keep this government run health care plan afloat is for everyone to buy into it – especially young and healthy people. That means that they will have to penalize citizens if we choose not to buy a plan that will cost a minimum of about $15,000 per family per year."
Palin is correct that the Democratic plan requires everyone to buy insurance or face a tax penalty. The fines and jail terms, though, are not part of the health care bill, but rather the tools the Internal Revenue Service uses against tax cheats. (We ruled on a similar statement about jail terms and fines for those who don't buy health insurance and rated it Barely True.)
Here, we wanted to check out whether the plan requires people to buy plans that cost $15,000 per family per year....(Remainder.)
Her note, titled "Pelosi 'Health Plan' Should Be DOA," argued that people shouldn't be compelled by the government to purchase health insurance. She also wrote that the House Democrats' measures for enforcing the new requirement, known as the individual mandate, are overly punitive.
"If you don't buy what the government considers 'acceptable health care coverage,' you’re going to be hit with a tax of at least 2.5% of your income," Palin wrote. "And if you don’t pay that new tax, you could be fined as much as $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison.
"But here’s the thing: they have to make the penalty for opting out very harsh in order to force us to buy coverage. The only way to keep this government run health care plan afloat is for everyone to buy into it – especially young and healthy people. That means that they will have to penalize citizens if we choose not to buy a plan that will cost a minimum of about $15,000 per family per year."
Palin is correct that the Democratic plan requires everyone to buy insurance or face a tax penalty. The fines and jail terms, though, are not part of the health care bill, but rather the tools the Internal Revenue Service uses against tax cheats. (We ruled on a similar statement about jail terms and fines for those who don't buy health insurance and rated it Barely True.)
Here, we wanted to check out whether the plan requires people to buy plans that cost $15,000 per family per year....(Remainder.)
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