I wanted to ask about the Health care. When is it taking place that everyone has to have ins.
Asked by Lee Ann on Facebook.
On January 1, 2014, you must be enrolled in a health insurance plan that meets basic minimum standards. If you aren’t, you may be required to pay an assessment. You won’t have to pay an assessment if you have very low income and coverage is unaffordable to you, or for other reasons including your religious beliefs. You can also apply for a waiver asking not to pay an assessment if you don’t qualify automatically.
View a timeline of the Affordable Care Act, including what’s changing and when.
Today the Supreme Court released its decision on the health care law, National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. Read the decision. (PDF)
Healthcare.gov has information about how the law affects you. You can read the law, learn about key features of the law, and see a timeline of what will change and when. Learn more about the health care law.
Asked by Anonymous
My high school has a bank in it, and up until this year the people working at the bank were more than willing to make change for students who needed to, for example, break a twenty. Last month, though, the rules suddenly changed, and we can't make change at the bank anymore. When asked, the lady behind the counter said that "making change for people who aren't members of the bank is a violation of the Patriot Act". Is that true? I thought the Patriot Act was something entirely different.
The USA Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56) does have some rules that impact banks and deal with money laundering. However, none of them have to do with making change for people who aren’t bank members. You can learn more about these rules from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Asked by Anonymous
Is it a violation of the FCC rules for the TV Media to knowingly falsify a news report. And if so what rule is that? Thank you
The Communications Act of 1934 created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and provided the basis for how it works. It is a violation of the Act for broadcast media to knowingly falsify a news report. The FCC may penalize broadcasters for doing so.
However, another important goal of the Act was to protect free speech. So, the FCC must have real proof that the broadcaster lied on purpose before it can take action. An example of this kind of evidence might be sworn testimony from “insiders” with direct personal knowledge of an intentional falsification of the news. That’s a high bar, but Congress’s intention was to make it very hard for the government to intimidate or control broadcasters.
Learn more about how the FCC works to balance free speech and regulations or file a complaint against a broadcaster.
THOMAS.gov, a service of the Library of Congress, shows all laws passed by the current Congress and lets you search for bills in the House and Senate. You can also see the top five bills of the week or current activity in Congress.
