Obama's "You can keep your plan" failed to anticipate how much Americans love cheap crappy plans

[BlueStreak]

88. It is not a big fine.

If you have $40,000 income, the fine would be $400. But in all likelihood, that same person can get off their ass and buy good insurance on the exchange for a net cost of under $100 a month -- less than they spend on cell phones or cable teevee. You will get no sympathy from me for the person in those particular circumstances. That is a great deal and they ought to act on it.

I am not saying that everybody fits into exactly those circumstances, and I certain have more empathy for people who are hit harder than this, but I'd have to see some examples where this first-year penalty is unfair.

Let's look at some other examples. A person making $80K would face an $800 fine, and does not benefit from subsidies. So that person might be looking at the prospect of buying insurance for about $6000 or else paying an $800 fine. My empathy meter is a little higher in this case, because $6000 is a big chunk. But this is a person with a decent income, CHOOSING to be a deadbeat, and choosing to pass his health care costs on to me. I wish his costs were only about $3500, which is what we would get if we had single payer. But really, if you have $80K of income, you should not be dumping your HC costs onto your neighbors.

Can you give me an example where you think the 1% penalty is unfair and an extreme hardship?