Now that the Supreme Court has spoken everyone know exactly what the Health Care Act does, does not do and how it will work right??  HAHAHA!  I have a special insight as I took a Constitutional Law class in Law School, have never argued a case before the Supreme Court and haven’t read the Act or the complete Supreme Court opinion.  I guess that makes me at least as qualified (if not more so) as all our representatives who voted for legislation they never read.  So with that great lead in, let’s talk tax (or not) depending on whom you listen to and/or on what day and/or which part of the opinion you read. 

I do not like the Act, but the Supreme Courts job in this case was to determine if those that passed it had the authority to do so, not whether it was good or bad.  Under the taxing authority they did.  It gives me a warm cozy feeling that the loveable and benevolent IRS is the collector of tax (penalty) which is designed to enforce the “mandate” of healthcare. 

Is this a tax — Well it is but it isn’t or maybe it is.  It appears it is not a tax otherwise the Court could not consider the Act because under the Anti-Injunction Act there can’t be a challenge to a tax until after it becomes effective which would have been around 2014, but the Court said that’s ok it isn’t a tax it is a penalty so we can hear the case, but wait there’s more…

The government does not have the authority to make people buy health insurance (or healthy veggies).  The Court ruled that the ACA is creating business not regulating it so sorry the Commerce Clause can’t work, so guess what it really is a tax which the government can do (and very well I might point out) so we now have a penalty/tax which allows the Court to have heard the case and the government to tax those that don’t buy insurance.  Clear?

So now we have a healthcare law which has the enforcement of the IRS (luckily we have thousands of new IRS agents out there to help out), millions of added people eligible for health care and being run by the same people who brought you Medicaid and Social Security.  Oh and as an aside, we seem to be having a slight problem with not enough doctors currently, much less for the millions of additional patients. But wait there is still more…

If you get past the logistics of how we are supposed to provide healthcare to millions of more people without a significant number of new doctors, we get to a few other sticky issues like who is going to determine the priority for medical care, how is it going be to determined and the elephant in the room (or jackass depending on your political leaning) that little thing called freedom of religion. 

I am Catholic and have a real issue with being told that I have to provide health coverage which includes treatments and care in direct conflict with my beliefs.  I am surprised that the ACLU and others have not been filing suits and holding press conferences to decry this abuse of religious freedom.  This Act puts millions of Catholics in a position of following their religious beliefs or being in violation of a law which allows the IRS to impose taxes and use their power in the collection of the penalty/tax.  Just a heads up here — religious beliefs win.

The Supreme Court is not the issue, the legislatures who passed this are.  If you are in agreement with law then great, but I would really like to know if you have read and understand all the provisions and how it will impact you and your family in the coming years. Apparently neither party can seem to understand if it is tax or penalty and how it will be implemented. The need for health care is real, but passing a law just to say you did something is just plain dumb, but this is brought to us by the same people who voted to provide all of us with healthcare which they would not make mandatory for themselves.  If your representative is proud of the healthcare act why wouldn’t they want it for themselves? I guess that common sense thing keeps getting in the way of the great things they are providing for us (but don’t want for themselves).

I would like to thank the below referenced articles for information and also would recommend you read them.  One is Forbes and the other is Dr. Thomas Parr a friend of mine here in Sugar Land. 

http://forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2012/07/02/how-to-explain-the-obamacare-ruling-to-a-five-year-old/

http://fbindependent.com/texas-doctors-will-be-lean-and-mean-to-stay-in-business-p4970-89.htm