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I know you think the people who wrote this policy up were idiots, but do you really think they would ignore this problem and leave themselves so open to attacks? Show me where in the policy it would say all unemployed people are illegal.
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Well, of course it's not written into the policy: this would be an unintended consequence of the policy.
Every policy I've heard discussed is going to refund poor people's health insurance costs at tax season, where they get a credit of some amount depending on their income. The problem is, most poor people I know can't afford a year's worth of health insurance while they wait to get it all back in taxes. If people make it through the first year, one could hope that they could be fiscally responsible enough to manage until the next year, but that first year will be thin pickin's, for many.
As well, all the policies I've heard suggested completely gloss over the penalty for defying the mandate. When this passes, there's a lot of homeless people who will be unable to avoid breaking the law, since there's no way they can pay for anything, much less just pay until they get the tax credit. The penalty must be applied... and we have no idea what that will be.
I'm against all mandates with unspecified penalties, to say the least.