actively refusing to pay any fee laid by the courts can and does result in jail time, contempt of court charges, and all manner of bullshit.
thats why i was threatened with 3 months in jail over an $80 parking ticket (which was bullshit toi start with) when the courts lost it, had no original ticket, and no evidence of the original infraction. the judge summarily threw out the original ticket, but then demanded $4300.00 immediately or i could spend 3 months in slam, and pay it when i got out for "willful failure to appear"
the original "debt" was never an issue it was my "willful failure to appear" on a case they never even filed for 7 years that got their panties in a twist. funny thing is, neither I nor my truck were even in san francisco on the day they claim i was illegally parked. I have no evidence to prove it but i was in ventura county that month working in an onion feild.
so sure, you wont be jailed for refusing to get medical insurance, youll get the "O-tax". refusing to pay the "O-tax" wont land you in jail either. refusing to pay the fines for refusing to pay the "O-tax" will definitely get you in deep shit, deep debt to the courts and eventually in deep deep prison. thats how the system works. refuse to submit and the penalties get bigger and bigger till a bench warrant is issued and then your in a triple max slam where youll never see daylight again, and you have to give a jailhouse surgeon 30 menthol Kools to get a surgical shine job on your eyes so you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark.