An April 5 Washington Post article analyzing Rep. Betsy Markey's (D-CO) chances for reelection following her vote in favor of the health care reform legislation quoted one of Markey's constituents asking: “Are we going to get fined and put in jail” for failing to buy insurance?" In fact, while conservative media figures have repeatedly claimed that the government was going to put people who didn't buy insurance in jail, the Joint Committee on Taxation has stated that noncompliance with the mandate to buy insurance “is not subject to criminal or civil penalties” under the Internal Revenue Code, which the Post article did not note.

After citing Markey's vote to finalize health care reform legislation, the Post reported: “Samoa Brown, a stay-at-home mother, said she has big reservations. 'Government's not good at dealing with that much,' she said. She also wondered about the mandate to buy insurance. 'Are we going to get fined and put in jail?' she asked.”

The Post did not provide an answer to the question, but in fact, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the answer to the question is definitely no. The Joint Committee on Taxation's states:

The penalty applies to any period the individual does not maintain minimum essential coverage and is determined monthly. The penalty is assessed through the Code and accounted for as an additional amount of Federal tax owed. However, it is not subject to the enforcement provisions of subtitle F of the Code. The use of liens and seizures otherwise authorized for collection of taxes does not apply to the collection of this penalty. Non-compliance with the personal responsibility requirement to have health coverage is not subject to criminal or civil penalties under the Code and interest does not accrue for failure to pay such assessments in a timely manner.

Failure to clear up this matter can lead to a frenzy of false conservative attacks on the issue. As we've noted, a reporter for a local Seattle television station asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on November 9, 2009: “Do you think it's fair to send people to jail for not buying health insurance?” When Pelosi responded, in part, that “the legislation is very fair in this respect,” Fox News and right-wing bloggers distorted Pelosi's comments to claim that Pelosi had said it would be fair to send people to jail if they did not purchase health insurance.

Other right-wing media figures have also falsely claimed that if people don't buy health insurance, the government will throw them in prison.

The Washington Post should set the record straight on this issue; leaving open the question of whether the government can throw you in jail for failing to buy insurance will result in conservatives rushing to fill the void with falsehoods.