Not Even IRS Is Prepared For Burden of ObamaCare, Let Alone Taxpayers

Pelosi: “We Have To Pass The Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It”:

“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other.  But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket.  Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting.  But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Pelosi Remarks, 3/25/2010)

RED ALERT: ObamaCare Will Create Headaches For Businesses, IRS Forced To Oversee Newly Created Programs:

“The new federal health-care law may pose compliance challenges for taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service, an IRS ombudsman reported Wednesday. The agency, which will be responsible for administering major aspects of health insurance finance, is neither structured nor funded to effectively oversee social programs, the National Taxpayer Advocate Service said in a news release. In addition, a tax reporting requirement in the health-care law ‘may impose significant burdens on businesses, charities, and government agencies,’ the advocate service reported…The Taxpayer Advocate Service estimated the new requirement will affect 40 million businesses and other entities. Those include about 26 million sole proprietorships, not counting farms.”  (David S. Hilzenrath, “Health-care law may pose challenges for IRS, taxpayers,” Washington Post, 7/07/2010)

Review-Journal: No End In Sight for ER Crowding

Obama Promised Savings, Reduced ER Crowding Under ObamaCare:

 “And you also don't do anything about the fact that taxpayers currently end up subsidizing the uninsured when they're forced to go to the emergency room for care, to the tune of about a thousand bucks per family.  You can't get those savings if those people are still going to the emergency room.  So the fact is, health reform only works if you take care of all of these problems at once.”  (President Obama, Remarks by the President on Health Care Reform, 3/3/2010)

RED ALERT: Editorial Warns ObamaCare Provisions Won’t Ease Strain On Overcrowded Emergency Rooms: 

“Obamacare -- the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- was enacted in March, though many of its provisions won't take effect till 2014…But it didn't take four years for indications to surface that Obamacare could actually make things worse. ‘Emergency rooms, the only choice for patients who can't find care elsewhere, may grow even more crowded with longer wait times under the nation's new health law,’ The Associated Press reported this week. ‘That might come as a surprise to those who thought getting 32 million more people covered by health insurance would ease ER crowding,’ writes The AP's Carla K. Johnson. ‘It would seem these patients would be able to get routine health care by visiting a doctor's office, as most of the insured do. But it's not that simple.’” (“ER Crowding Could Get Worse,” Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial, 7/7/2010)

Obama Puts Advocate of European-Style Socialized Medicine in Charge of Medicare

 
President Obama: Health Care Reform Should “Build On Our Traditions Here In The United States”:

“But I believe -- and I've taken some flak from members of my own party for this belief -- that it's important for our reform efforts to build on our traditions here in the United States. So when you hear the naysayers claim that I'm trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: They're not telling the truth.” (President Obama speech, “Remarks by the President at the Annual Conference of the American Medical Association,” whitehouse.gov, 6/15/2009)

RED ALERT: Obama Appoints Doctor With “Professed Admiration For Britain’s National Health Service” As Medicare Head:

“The White House announced late Tuesday that President Barack Obama will use a recess appointment to make Donald Berwick administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, angering Republicans who had opposed his nomination.  A Harvard professor and pediatrician, Berwick has won endorsements from most major medical societies. But his nomination has drawn vicious criticism from Republicans, who have seized on his professed admiration for Britain's National Health Service as an ‘example’ for the United States to follow… The move fans flames of an already heated battle over Berwick's nomination, with advocates and opponents vying to frame the new CMS leader as, alternatively, an innovative health care leader or dangerous advocate of rationing.” (Sarah Kliff and Jennifer Haberkorn, “Obama to skip Senate on Berwick,” Politico, 7/06/2010)

ObamaCare To Take A Huge Bite Out Of Jobs, Not Sliders

President Obama Promised Economic Benefits And Lower Premiums As A Result Of His Healthcare Overhaul:

“President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to tout the economic benefits of overhauling the health care system, saying that reform would help build a ‘new foundation for our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of tomorrow.’” (Nia-Malika Henderson, “Obama: Health bill will create jobs,” Politico, 01/09/10)

RED ALERT: ObamaCare Penalties And Higher Premiums Will Eat Up Ohio Companies’ Profits, Inhibit Job Growth:

“The White Castle hamburger chain fears that a health insurance reform law adopted earlier this year will put its profits on a downward slide. The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain - known for serving small square hamburgers called ‘sliders’ – says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014.  Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance. White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson.” (Sabrina Eaton, “Ohio hamburger chain says insurance reform will bite into profits,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 07/06/10)

ObamaCare “Embarrassment”: Centerpiece of Gov’t Takeover Fails to Address Rising Premiums

President Obama Promised Affordable Healthcare For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions:
 
“Starting this year and continuing through 2014, the Affordable Care Act will be implemented, increasing access to affordable health care for individuals, families, seniors and businesses.  Many important benefits begin immediately, including bans on the worst insurance company abuses, cost savings for seniors, families and small and large businesses, and coverage options for many Americans who have been locked out of the insurance market because of a preexisting condition.” (Office of the Press Secretary, “The Affordable Care Act - Implementation Timeline,” whitehouse.gov, Accessed 6/30/2010)

RED ALERT: Experts Warn Special Coverage Program Will Be An Embarrassment To Obama:

“’The Obama administration is launching a special coverage program for uninsured Americans with medical problems this week, the most ambitious early investment of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. But here's the catch: Premiums will be a stretch for many, even after government subsidies to bring rates close to what healthier groups of people are charged. And $5 billion that Congress allocated to the program through 2013 could run out well before that…To qualify for the temporary program, a person must have a pre-existing medical condition and must have been uninsured for six months or longer...That would be an embarrassment for Obama, since the program is a centerpiece of his plan for putting the nation on a path to coverage for all.” (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, “New coverage for uninsured people in poor health,” Associated Press, 6/29/2010)