REAL ID Act

H.R.1268

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005
(Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)

TITLE II--IMPROVED SECURITY FOR DRIVERS' LICENSES AND PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS

Proposed Senate "Obamacare Repeal" Amendment

Today, the U.S. Senate proposes to amend H. R. 3762 to "repeal" additional sections of the Affordable Care Act beyond the sections that the U.S. House proposes to repeal using the budget reconciliation process. The entire law would not be repealed. Budget reconciliation procedures mean the "repeal" is actually a 7-year suspension of various taxes, including the 40% 'Cadillac tax,' zeroing out of the individual and employer mandate penalties (while not repealing the language), ending the risk corridor and reinsurance (corporate welfare/bailout) programs, and phasing out the expansion of Medicaid and taxpayer-funded premium subsidies. If enacted and signed into law, the bill would be a blow to the financial solvency of the law, but would not repeal many ACA provisions which impede on individualized medical decision-making between patients and doctors, such as "value-based" purchasing, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), the Independent Payment Advisory Board and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. [UPDATED with 20-page Senate amendment on Friday, December 4, 2015]

CR Omnibus 2015 - Amendment to H.R. 83 (Dec. 9, 2014)

CCH Freedom has pulled together a list of much of the health care spending in omnibus bill under consideration by Congress. The HHS Appropriations Act within the 1,603 page bill includes funding for Obamacare, plus much much more. The spending begins on page 834.

State of Oklahoma vs. Burwell Ruling

The District Court ruling on the legality of issuing Obamacare premium subsidies to federal exchange enrollees finds:

. . “An agency’s rule- making power is not ‘the power to make law,’ it is only the ‘power to adopt regulations to carry into effect the will of Congress as expressed by the statute.’' . . .

The court holds that the IRS Rule is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law . . .

Employer and Exchange Data-Sharing Requirements

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enacted comparative effective research, which is likely to lead to the rationing of healthcare services. In addition, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) embedded within the recovery act provides 27 billion dollars to implement the National Health Information Network and requires doctors to use interoperable electronic medical records or face financial penalties.