Nancy L. Johnson: “this bill does not allow the IRS to share your income information with insurance companies. The bill very clearly…”

“this bill does not allow the IRS to share your income information with insurance companies. The bill very clearly protects the confidentiality of your information, and there are criminal and civil penalties for violating those provisions. Violators can go to jail. It is true that for 5 percent of the seniors, they will have a higher threshold for catastrophic coverage. I personally do not believe that someone with a $200,000 income living in a gated community should have exactly the same subsidy as someone struggling along on $25,000 or $30,000 of income. I think that is a strength of this bill. But if someone does not want the government to tell you what your catastrophic threshold is, you can opt out and just take the highest threshold. That is your right. But only 5 percent will fall above the threshold, and we think that is progressive. We think we need to target this benefit at those who need it the most, and that is what we do.”