Northwest Indiana Discussion

Why the IRS Diverting $500 Million to Enforce Obamacare

Millions of Americans are struggling to meet the April 17 IRS tax filing deadline. Today, The Hill newspaper reports that the IRS is receiving an emergency infusion of $500 million from the Obama administration – not to enforce the existing convoluted tax code – but to impose the 2,700-page Obamacare law on an unwilling country.

Why would the IRS need hundreds of millions of dollars to implement a healthcare law?

Because Obamacare is one of the largest tax hikes in history, saddling American families and small employers with 20 new or higher taxes.

Obama Gets Left Behind


From drone attacks to Wall Street regulation, President Obama has been unable to please the left wing voters of his party.

Come on now. Is Obama really a “psychopathic megalomaniac”?

I learned of Obama’s problems today. Not from Ron Paul supporters. Not from Glenn Beck‘s Drudge wanna-be news site The Blaze. I read about Obama’s psychosis from left wing Democrats.

Everyday I get emails from former members of Move On, a pro-Democratic Party group that was famously active during the build-up to the Iraq War in 2003. They’re complaining about one man: President Obama.

In these emails, one thing is apparent. When it comes to the left wing liberals, Obama is being left behind.

Guest commentary: If Affordable Care Act is overturned, here's what patients lose
Dr. Paul LaCasse
June 14, 2012

By late June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on multiple legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act. The end result could be all or parts of the law being struck down.

My purpose here is not to enter the political fray on the act. Compelling arguments are made by reasonable people on both sides of the issue. Instead, as a physician and the CEO of a major metro Detroit hospital, it is important for patients and the community to understand how they will be affected if the law is overturned.

Michigan hospitals are the largest health care providers and employers in the state, and we are committed to serving Michigan communities. The Affordable Care Act will have profound effects on the thousands of patients we serve daily.

This list is not all inclusive and is not intended to be political. Rather, it factually presents the most important provisions of the act related to patient care that would end if the law is overturned.

• Young adults up to age 26 and people with pre-existing conditions who have been able to gain health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act would lose the coverage. In addition, many people would again face lifetime caps on what their insurer will pay for claims.

• Primary care physicians would not receive an increase in what they are being paid to treat Michigan's Medicaid patients. Right now, about one in five Michigan residents (1.9 million people altogether) depend on Medicaid for their health care, but Medicaid reimburses physicians only about 61% of their costs.

Under the Affordable Care Act, primary care physicians would receive more appropriate reimbursement levels. If the act is overturned, the state's already severe shortage of primary care physicians would likely increase, thereby limiting access to care for all patients.

• The number of Michigan residents with no health insurance (about 1.3 million) would increase or remain largely unchanged. Under the Affordable Care Act, many of Michigan's uninsured residents will qualify for Medicaid because of changes to eligibility standards, expanding coverage to hundreds of thousands.

People without health insurance tend not to seek care until they are very ill, and that's when the cost of care is higher. Often, they tend to seek care in hospital emergency rooms, even for minor illnesses, rather than primary care physician offices.

Many uninsured patients do not pay their bills, which drives health care costs higher for people who have insurance and taxpayers. The state Senate Fiscal Agency estimates that the expansion of Medicaid required by the act would actually save Michigan taxpayers money because the federal government is covering nearly all of the costs of the expansion through 2020.

• If you have health insurance, you could lose free-of-charge services and medications designed to keep you healthier and to prevent illness. Under the Affordable Care Act, certain preventive care and some medications to keep patients healthy or healthier are offered free of charge. Without this required benefit of the act, many patients would skip regular tests or not fill needed prescriptions because they cannot afford the co-pay.

People covered by Medicare are already enjoying preventive services without out-of-pocket expenses. Turning back the Affordable Care Act could repeal this assistance, which is already in place for senior citizens.