Obamacare, or H.R. 3590, mandates that after 2013 everybody carries essential insurance coverage or be penalized (see Chapter 48 section 5000A). The goal of the law was to provide insurance for all, obviously, and requiring everyone to buy it is certainly one way to achieve this goal.
And, of course, with everyone now pitching in the burden will be shared and rates will drop, at least that’s how the theory goes.
There is a religious exemption, however, to this mandate which can be found in section d of the above section and says Such term shall not include any individual for any month if such individual has in effect an exemption under section 1311(d)(4)(H) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which certifies that such individual is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1) and an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division as described in such section.
1402 (g)(1) refers to this part of the Internal Revenue Code.
The exemption is purportedly written for the Amish to which nobody should object since the Amish have never burdened the health care system due to their tradition of self-reliance.
There is another religious sect, however, that prohibits the purchase of insurance including health insurance, and they don’t have the Amish tradition of self-reliance.
Under Obamacare, will health care for Muslims be subsidized by the rest of us? It looks like the decision is up to the Commissioner of Social Security.
This was one badly written bill.
