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As America prepares to celebrate our independence, the Obama administration made an interesting move late yesterday afternoon.
This statement was sent out from the Treasury Department:
Over the past several months, the Administration has been engaging in a dialogue with businesses – many of which already provide health coverage for their workers – about the new employer and insurer reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively. We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action.
The press release from the administration is titled, “Continuing to Implement the ACA in a Careful, Thoughtful Manner.”
I'm certain the administration has indeed "listened to your feedback," insurance providers are bailing and lawsuits are piling up.
The misleading information about the impact of Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) cannot be overstated. I wrote about it yesterday.
Even Senator Harry Reid said Obamacare has the potential to become a "train wreck."
While businesses have a one year reprieve, individuals are not off the hook. We are still on the hook for 2014.
This is a devious move at best. Why now? Some questions and personal thoughts.
Human Events is asking some good questions about the administration's move yesterday.
1. Can the administration unilaterally decide when and how a law is implemented? If so, can Congress decide when and how to fund it?
2. Why is the employer mandate delayed, but not the individual mandate?
3. Why is it that the populist Obama administration acts on complaints from large companies, but fights all the way to the Supreme Court to levy fines on individuals?
Good questions.
However, I think the bigger and simpler question is, why is he doing this now?
The answer is as big and simple as the question.
TIME.com said last night, "The delay not only allows the Administration time to alleviate concerns among business owners, but also takes a controversial component of the law off the table before the midterm elections."
The train wreck is delayed until after the 2014 elections.
Republicans had warned of a downturn in hiring as a result of the mandate. President Obama was apparently listening.
The delay deprives the federal government of a year of penalties that would have been paid by companies that do not meet the law’s requirements, how will that effect the budget? Who knows?
The so-called individual mandate is unaffected by the rule change. That provision requires the vast majority of Americans to purchase insurance or pay a penalty, with tax credits provided to those who can’t afford coverage.
TIME says, "Republican former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin called the move 'deviously brilliant,' by removing a potential electoral impediment from in front of congressional Democrats before the midterms.
"Democrats no longer face the immediate specter of running against the fallout from a heavy regulatory imposition on employers across the land," TIME reports. "Explaining away the mandate," they say, "was going to be a big political lift; having the White House airbrush it from the landscape is way better.”
The Weekly Standard is reporting yesterday afternoon that Aetna, the third largest provider of medical insurance in the country, has concerns and has mailed a letter to at least some of their customers, warning them that the "Affordable Care Act is changing health insurance" and that "many people will pay more for their health insurance in 2014 than they do today."
The letter from Aetna is included in the Weekly Standard story linked above.
Here's the problem. Much of the information people will need will not be available until the Obamacare (AFA) open enrollment nears, which is October 1, 2013. This will only give individuals 3 months notice about how much more coverage will cost in the new year.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.