07.26.2013
No Joke! – IRS Employee’s Union Wants No Part of ACA Exchange Coverage
Op Ed:
In an ultimate case of hypocrisy (which would be hysterical were it not foretelling a travesty of monumental proportions about to be inflicted on the American people) the Union of IRS employees wants no part of the Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA)! The Union urges its members to write their congressmen expressing reservation about being forced out the Federal Health Benefits Program and into the insurance exchanges scheduled to be up and functional by October 1. The Federal Health Benefits Program is the “Cadillac” health plan we have always heard federal employees enjoy at our expense. In the meantime, many of us will be forced to give up our current health insurance and providers to acquire what they dictate is right for us. The very representatives who passed and will enforce the legislation and mandates say it is good enough for you and me while not wanting to accept it for themselves. They want no part of the very thing they are forcing down our throats!
We cannot make this up people! And you’re not outraged? Or are you?
(For more details, please see our first feature article below.)
Admin. – Kenton Henry
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FEATURE ARTICLES:
Washington Examiner
IRS employee union: We don’t want Obamacare
BY JOEL GEHRKE | JULY 26, 2013 AT 11:45 AM
TOPICS: ANALYSIS BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL
National Taxpayer Employee Union officials are giving members a form letter expressing concern…
IRS employees have a prominent role in Obamacare, but their union wants no part of the law.
National Treasury Employees Union officials are urging members to write their congressional representatives in opposition to receiving coverage through President Obama’s health care law.
The union leaders are providing members with a form letter to send to the congressmen that says “I am very concerned about legislation that has been introduced by Congressman Dave Camp to push federal employees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and into the insurance exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.”
The NTEU represents 150,000 federal employees overall, including most of the nearly 100,000 IRS workers.
Like most other federal workers, IRS employees currently get their health insurance through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which also covers members of Congress.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp offered the bill in response to reports of congressional negotiations that would exempt lawmakers and their staff from Obamacare.
“Camp has long believed every American ought to be exempt from the law, which is why he supports full repeal,” Camp spokeswoman Allie Walkersaid.
“If the Obamacare exchanges are good enough for the hardworking Americans and small businesses the law claims to help, then they should be good enough for the president, vice president, Congress and federal employees,” she also said.
“The NTEU represents Internal Revenue Service employees who have the responsibility to enforce much of the health insurance law, especially in terms of collecting the taxes and distributing subsidies that finance the whole system,” said Paul Kersey, director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute.
“IRS agents will also collect data and apply penalties for those who fail to comply with many of Obamacare’s requirements,” Kersey said.
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Polls Identify Americans’ Disapproval Of ACA.
In continuing coverage, the Washington Times (7/26, Sherfinski) “Inside Politics” blog reports on a Fox News poll which shows that 53% of respondents would choose to repeal the Affordable Care Act, given the choice between keeping the law in entirety or overhauling it. The piece also reports on a separate poll, from CBS News, which found that “fifty-four percent disapprove of the law and 36 percent approve of it.”
The National Journal (7/26, Shepard, Subscription Publication) reports on the findings from the new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll which found that “opponents of President Obama’s health care law overwhelmingly believe the Affordable Care Act will worsen the quality of their care.” Further, more of the law’s supporters than not “don’t think it will improve their health care.”
Klein Extols Opportunities Brought By ACA. Washington Post blogger and MSNBC political analyst Ezra Klein writes about the coming “opportunity to change American health-care forever,” in a piece for Bloomberg News (7/26). He explains that the Affordable Care Act “carries the potential for both huge profits and huge social benefits,” as long as “Washington can stop bickering over the politics long enough to pay attention.”
Wonkblog Explores Former Republican Alternative To ACA. The Washington Post (7/26, Matthews) “Wonkblog” reports on a former Republican plan to “replace” the Affordable Care Act, proposed in 2009 by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Known as the Patients’ Choice Act, the law was “a credible way of covering almost all Americans,” picking up 13 co-sponsors in the House and seven in the Senate. After describing the central aspects of the bill, pointing out its similarities with the ACA.
Papers Offer Opposite Opinions On Repealing ACA. In an editorial, the Colorado Springs (CO) Gazette (7/26) encourages Republicans to work to defund the Affordable Care Act, because “most Americans don’t want” it. The paper argues that “perhaps nothing would give our country’s economy a greater jump-start than” stopping the law “in its tracks.”
However, in an opposing editorial, the Ogden (UT) Standard-Examiner (7/26) asks Congress to “respect” the Affordable Care Act. Although the paper has “problems” with the law, it argues that implementation “should not be hijacked through the inappropriate use of a filibuster, or the House refusing to vote for its funding.”
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Christie Slams ACA At GOP Governors’ Meeting.
The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger (7/26, Portnoy) reports that in a discussion with fellow Republican Governors in Aspen, Chris Christie of New Jersey on Thursday called the Affordable Care Act a “sad legacy” for President Barack Obama. During the talk, Christie said that while he has expanded Medicaid under the law, “he twice vetoed health exchanges.” Criticizing the law, Christie said, “This is what happens when you use Parliamentary maneuvers to jam an absolute sea change in American life down the throats of the American people with bare majorities and not one Republican vote.”
Jindal, Walker Say ACA Is Not Workable. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (7/26, Jindal, Subscription Publication), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker write that the ACA is not workable and predict chaos as the Oct. 1 deadline for health insurance exchanges to launch. The Governors argue that while delaying implementation off the ACA is a good idea, outright repeal of the law would be better.
New Jersey Policy Analyst Discusses ACA Benefits. NJ Today (7/26) carries video of an interview with New Jersey Policy Perspective Senior Policy Analyst Raymond Castro, who discusses the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to “New Jersey residents and business owners.” In the interview, Castro drew attention to the law’s subsidies, available to those purchasing insurance on the state’s exchange, calling them “the most important part of the reform.” Castro also pointed out that New Jersey stands to “save a lot of money” under the ACA, as the Federal government will take over a large chunk of costs.
Panels Answer ACA Questions In Utah And Alabama. The Salt Lake (UT) Tribune (7/26) reports that on Thursday, a “panel of Utah health care advocates, experts and state policy leaders answered questions” about the Affordable Care Act in “a televised town hall” event. The article links to recorded versions of the event.
Alabama Live (7/26, Berry) reports that the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County held a panel Thursday morning to inform “several dozen professionals” how the Affordable Care Act “will impact their small businesses in Madison County.” Led by Small Business Administration Alabama District Director Tom Todt, the Affordable Care Act 101 seminar “featured an overview of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) and Employer Shared Responsibility for Employee Health Coverage.”
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White Castle Considering Upping Part-Time Hires Due To ACA.
The Huffington Post (7/26) reports that in response to the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, White Castle “is considering hiring only part-time workers in the future,” its Vice President Jamie Richardson said in an interview Thursday. Richardson insisted, though, that “the restaurant chain has no intention of firing members of its current full-time staff or reducing benefits.”
The Los Angeles Times (7/26, Lopez) reports that in an interview with NPR Wednesday, Richardson further outlined his plan to deal with ACA implementation, saying, “As we look to the future, when the new healthcare law takes effect, we are considering at that point, for new hires, letting those people know upfront, ‘Hey, at this point we’re only able to hire part-time team members.’”
Brooks-LaSure Speaks At Senate Hearing On ACA. Bloomberg BusinessWeek (7/26, Clark) reports on Wednesday’s Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on concerns about the Affordable Care Act. According to the article, “the big questions…didn’t have easy answers.” Will, when asked whether “all health exchanges will be up and running as scheduled on Oct. 1,” HHS Deputy Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure “said she expects all exchanges will be up and running.”
Survey: Business Owners In New England More Optimistic About ACA. The Boston Globe (7/26, Reidy) reports that a new survey out of Deloitte LLP shows that “mid-size companies in New England seem to be more optimistic about containing health care costs than their national counterparts.” Overall, 60% of executives “cited rising health care costs as a major obstacle to US growth,” while only 46% did in New England.
healthandmedicareinsurance.com 