Obamacare…while you were vacationing
By now, you know that on July 2, the administration postponed the implementation of the Obamacare employer mandate until January 1, 2015. I’m sure you remember Nancy Pelosi in March, 2010 marching to the Capitol with a giant gavel proclaiming that Obamacare would soon be law. She wanted us to know that this was an important moment.
It would seem that the administration’s decision to, in effect, singlehandedly rewrite a signature piece of Obamacare wasn’t all that important, as it was announced quietly in a blog post by, no, not either the Secretary of HHS, or Treasury, but rather by the deputy assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy.
Then, on July 5, HHS announced new rules, also without Congressional approval, for the Obamacare exchanges for individuals.
People are supposed to receive subsidies only if their employer does not provide federally approved health benefits. Since HHS now won’t require business to report those benefits or enforce the standards until 2015, it says it can’t ask ObamaCare’s “exchange” bureaucracies to certify who qualifies either.
That may seem perfectly consistent until you “dig into the weeds”.
HHS is also handing the exchanges temporarily expanded discretion to accept an attestation of projected annual household income without further verification.’ [emphasis supplied]
In other words, as long as your application lists an income level (real or imagined) that will qualify you for a subsidy, you will get one.
Can anyone say waste, fraud and abuse?
Meanwhile, the administration is asking for more money to pay for, you guessed it, subsidies.
Senator Max Baucus (D. Mt.) had it right…Obamacare is a train wreck. But, until a majority of those in Congress understand that, the rest of us will just have to pull harder.
5 Comments
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Hate to say this SOS but looks to me you must go back to work. I am not able to pull harder, my job skills have been moves overseas.
Which is the larger issue, the waste of subsidies, or the arbitrary nullification of part of a law passed by Congress?? If the law or any part of it is unworkable, should not the Congress repeal said law?? Is it proper that the executive branch arrogate the power to ignore yet another law or part thereof?
How can the Exec branch suspend part of a law, as passed by the Legislative branch?? Is there precedent for this?? Does Barry have this authority on his say so?? I’m confused on this point but it seems kind of relevant….? And why is it not really even being discussed?
hmmm. . .didn’t lack of financial verification have something to do with the mortgage meltdown/financial crisis–also a brainchild of the fed gov’t??
hey sos–how about starting a class action to get those of us who don’t want/intend to participate in o’care a waiver, too?? aside from the questionable legality of all of this, i’m feeling marginalized and discriminated against–that can’t be right. . .
The real shame is that our “representatives” were vacationing when they should have been reading this sham of a bill.