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Article authored by Michael Barone and appeared in The New York Post. Article is courtesy of nypost.com
Would you like to have a “skinny” health insurance policy? Probably not. But if you’re employed by a large company, you may get one, thanks to ObamaCare.
That’s the conclusion of Wall Street Journal reporters Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews, who report that insurance brokers are pitching and selling “low-benefit” policies across the country. [Read more...]
Article authored by Kevin Bogardus and appeared on The Hill. Article is courtesy of thehill.com
Labor unions are breaking with President Obama on ObamaCare.
Months after the president’s reelection, a variety of unions are publicly balking at how the administration plans to implement the landmark law. They warn that unless there are changes, the results could be catastrophic. [Read more...]
Article authored by Douglas Holtz-Eakin and appeared in The Washington Times. Article is courtesy of washingtontimes.com
The political travails of the Affordable Care Act — aka Obamacare — continue, as witnessed by the furor surrounding Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius‘ attempts to solicit funds to pay for its implementation. Politics do garner the bulk of the media attention, and the public may think that partisan battles will determine the law’s future. A recent poll sponsored by the American Action Forum, though, shows that the nuts and bolts of consumer decision-making may be its real Achilles heel. [Read more...]
Article authored by John Parkinson and Steven Portnoy and appeared on ABC News. Article is courtesy of abcnews.com
The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.
Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.
Her successor, Joseph Grant, is taking the fall for misdeeds at the scandal-plagued unit between 2010 and 2012. During at least part of that time, Grant served as deputy commissioner of the tax-exempt unit.
Grant announced today that he would retire June 3, despite being appointed as commissioner of the tax-exempt office May 8, a week ago.
ABC News’ Abby D. Phillip contributed to this report.
via IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office – ABC News.
Article authored by Paul Bedard and appeared on The Washington Examiner. Article is courtesy of washingtonexaminer.com
Internal cost estimates from 17 of the nation’s largest insurance companies indicate that health insurance premiums will grow an average of 100 percent under Obamacare, and that some will soar more than 400 percent, crushing the administration’s goal of affordability. [Read more...]
Article authored by John Kartch and appeared on Americans for Tax Reform. Article is courtesy of atr.org
Obamacare: Taxpayers Must Report Personal Health ID Info to IRS
When Obamacare’s individual mandate takes effect in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form.
The new form will require disclosure of a taxpayer’s personal identifying health information in order to determine compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. [Read more...]
Article authored by Brett LoGiurato and appeared on Business Insider. Article is courtesy of businessinsider.com
One of the most politically intense fights over the Affordable Care Act was over the creation of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, infamously dubbed a “death panel” by Republicans during the 2010 elections.
On Thursday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled that they would keep working to keep opposition alive by doing everything they can to impede the board’s implementation. [Read more...]
Article authored by Jeffrey A. Singer and appeared on Reason.com. Article is courtesy of reason.com
In 1997, Jacques Chaouilli, MD, a family physician in Montreal, Quebec, decided he could no longer tolerate seeing his patients suffer—sometimes die—lingering on waiting lists for treatment and/or specialty care. He started a private emergency housecall service that got shut down by the government because of its prohibition of private health care. He then decided to challenge Canada’s law prohibiting patients from seeking—and doctors from providing—private health care outside of the government run single-payer monopoly health care system. [Read more...]
Article authored by Mark Koba and appeared on CNBC. Article is courtesy of cnbc.com
Get ready for the Internal Revenue Service to play a dominant role in health care. When Obamacare takes full effect next year, the agency will enforce most of the laws involved in the reform—even deciding who gets included in the health-care mandate.
“The impact of the IRS on health-care reform is huge,” said Paul Hamburger, a partner and employee benefits lawyer at Proskauer. [Read more...]
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