[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5150-5151]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, under the new health care 
reform law, we find the Internal Revenue Service has been appointed as 
the health insurance police.
  The Ways and Means Committee reports the following: IRS agents will 
have to verify that you have acceptable health care coverage, which has 
yet to be defined. That used to be your decision. Now, it's a decision 
to be made by

[[Page 5151]]

an appointed Federal official. If they don't find your coverage 
acceptable or if you don't have coverage, the IRS can fine you up to 
$2,250, or 2 percent of your income.
  One of the rubs is that the fine is much cheaper than buying health 
care coverage; and when you get sick, you can still buy coverage that 
will apply.
  Now, if you can't pay the fine the IRS assesses, they have the power 
to confiscate your tax refund.
  This new police force will require about $1 billion a year and more 
than 16,000 new Federal employees. But, of course, the new law did not 
include money to pay for this vast expansion of power for the IRS. It's 
just one more example of the Democrats' deficit spending.

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