Exclusive: HHS won't say if Sebelius is fundraising for Obamacare

Washington Examiner, Susan Crabtree, February 17, 2014

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and other department staff may be continuing to solicit private donations to help an outside group promote the president's health care law as the administration works to boost enrollment figures after a troubled fall rollout.

News last May that Sebelius had asked business executives and nonprofit groups to donate to Enroll America, a nonprofit organization formed to help encourage millions of Americans to sign up for the new Obamacare insurance exchanges, provoked an uproar among Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Two GOP-led House committees launched investigations, and several Republican senators called on the Health and Human Services inspector general to investigate Sebelius' fundraising drive, which watchdogs have described as an unethical shakedown for cash.

Eight months after the news broke, Sebelius' spokeswoman last Friday sidestepped questions from the Washington Examiner on whether her boss has continued to solicit funds from outside groups for Enroll America's efforts.

READ MORE.

Congressional Investigation: Treasury, IRS, HHS Conspired To Create An Unauthorized, Half-Trillion Dollar Entitlement

You really need to read the full article to get the details and the impact!

~Lynn

Forbes, Michael F. Cannon, February 10, 2014

Last week, two congressional committees issued a little-noticed report detailing how Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and Health and Human Services officials conspired to create a massive new entitlement not authorized anywhere in federal law.

In the summer of 2012, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight & Government Reform and Committee on Ways & Means launched an investigation to determine “whether IRS and Treasury conducted an adequate review of the statute and legislative history prior to coming to [the] conclusion that [the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's] premium subsidies would be allowed in federal exchanges.” Over the next 18 months, the committees held numerous hearings with senior Treasury and IRS officials, while investigative staff conducted interviews with key agency attorneys responsible for developing the regulations in question. Investigators also reviewed what few documents Treasury and IRS officials allowed them to see.

Here is what seven key Treasury and IRS officials told investigators.

HHS IG: Obamacare data hub won't be secure until system starts Oct. 1 --- maybe | WashingtonExaminer.com

The Department of Health and Human Services won't certify that the so-called Obamacare "data hub" used to collect and verify personal health and financial information of health insurance applicants is secure until the system kicks in on October 1--unless further delays push it back further.

The department's assistant inspector general told a convention of auditors Tuesday morning that the office handling Obamacare, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, is still testing to make sure the system is secure from hackers and other digital attacks.

Kay Daly said that CMS has promised the HHS inspector general that the system security certification will come on time, the day before Obamacare kicks in. But in a sign of doubt, she added, "We are looking forward to seeing how this all works out."

In her address to the American Institute of CPAs, she said that CMS is "looking at the vulnerability assessments of the hub" used by state, federal and insurance company officials to judge applicants. The information being collected includes salary, Social Security numbers, personal health information and even pregnancy status.

Daly said that the system doesn't store data, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill have worried that it is too vulnerable to a hacker attack.

Daly sounded cautious in her comments. "Isn't there always a however," she asked.

CONTINUED:  HHS IG: Obamacare data hub won't be secure until system starts Oct. 1 --- maybe | WashingtonExaminer.com

Obamavote: Healthcare application registers voters, too

The 61-page online Obamacare draft application for health care includes asking if the applicant wants to register to vote, raising the specter that pro-Obama groups being tapped to help Americans sign up for the program will also steer them to register with the Democratic Party.


On page 59, after numerous questions about the applicant's identity and qualification for Obamacare, comes the question: "Would you like to register to vote?" The placement of the question could lead some to believe they have to register to vote to get health care.

In the introduction of the document, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services declare: "This document-the 'questionnaire'-represents each possible item that may need to be asked for successful eligibility determinations."   In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Monday, Rep. Charles Boustany Jr., chair of the House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee, said HHS is overstepping its bounds by a mile.

"The draft documents wander into areas outside the department's purview and links applications for health insurance subsidies to voter registration," he wrote in the letter provided to Secrets. "The position of the question could lead some to think voter registration is somehow tied to subsidy eligibility," he added.

Boustany, a Louisiana Republican, said the application raises two alarming issues: What does HHS plan to do with all the information it collects on each applicant and will pro-Obama groups like AARP and Families USA that might be tapped as "navigators" to sign people up to Obamacare, steer them to register as Democrats. Others have indicated that groups like Planned Parenthood and ACORN could also act as a navigator.

In his letter, Boustany demands from HHS guidance for the navigator program, especially whether they will be encouraged to ask applicants about their voting status. He set an April 8 deadline for HHS' response.

He added that the Affordable Care Act does not let HHS probe into an applicant's choice to vote. What's more, he said the Paperwork Reduction Act requires that federal agencies seek only information needed to do their job.   CONTINUED:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamavote-healthcare-application-registers-voters-too/article/2525323

Morning Bell: The 10 Worst Regulations of 2012

It seems that no aspect of American life can escape government regulation. In the past year, regulators drafted rules that addressed everything from caloric intake to dishwasher efficiency.


Most of these rules increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode freedom. Not all regulations are unwarranted, of course, but increasingly, the rules imposed by the government have less to do with health and safety and more to do with whether government or individuals get to make basic pocketbook and lifestyle decisions that affect them. And it is not just the regulators who are to blame. Congress writes laws that give unelected bureaucrats the broad powers they wield.

Today we bring you 10 of the worst regulations from 2012:

1. HHS’s Contraception Mandate
The Department of Health and Human Services on February 15 finalized its mandate that allhealth insurance plans include coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization procedures, and contraceptives. To date, 42 cases with more than 110 plaintiffs are challenging this restriction on religious liberty.

2. EPA Emissions Standards
The EPA in February finalized strict new emissions standards for coal- and oil-fired electric utilities. The benefits are highly questionable, with the vast majority being unrelated to the emissions targeted by the regulation. The costs, however, are certain: an estimated $9.6 billion annually.

3. Fuel Efficiency Standards
In August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in tandem with the Environmental Protection Agency, finalized fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucksfor model years 2017–2025. The rules require a whopping average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Sticker prices will jump by hundreds of dollars.

CONTINUED:  http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/28/morning-bell-the-10-worst-regulations-of-2012/?roi=echo3-14113239833-10781953-3bf731e1253b8d40187a4680578bdda0&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

ObamaCare's First Casualty

News that the Department of Health and Human Services was promulgating a rule that would destroy about 35% of the Health Savings Account market comes as no surprise to Tea Party activists who warned everyone who would listen that ObamaCare would kill the private insurance market.


The rule known as the "Medical Loss Ratio" rule would deny private and small business issued policies from being sold on the ObamaCare health care exchanges. There are currently five million people who have small business and individual issued policies. Those policies will be ripped from their hands should the rule go into effect.

CONTINUED:  http://teapartyorg.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=4301673%3ABlogPost%3A822290&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

Republicans accuse HHS of gutting welfare reform with quiet policy change

Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of unilaterally gutting welfare reform after the Department of Health and Human Services quietly notified states that they may seek a waiver for the program’s strict work requirements. HHS made the announcement in a policy memo Thursday, news that slipped well below the radar amid a raucous day on the presidential campaign trail. But a few prominent GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill picked up on the change, and accused the administration of overhauling one of the most important bipartisan agreements of the past several decades.


“President Obama just tore up a basic foundation of the welfare contract” Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, D-Ohio, said in a statement. He also called the move a “blatant violation of the law.” Mitt Romney on Friday spoke up on the change, saying: “President Obama now wants to strip the established work requirements from welfare.” He said “the linkage of work and welfare is essential to prevent welfare from becoming a way of life.”

CONTINUED:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/13/republicans-accuse-hhs-gutting-welfare-reform-with-quiet-policy-change/?intcmp=trending

OBAMA STRIPS THE LAW WITH A WAVE OF HIS HAND--AGAIN!

Obama’s Imperial Presidency Guts Welfare Reform


By Heritage Foundation

The imperial Presidency has overturned Congress and the law again. Not content to stop at rewriting immigration policy, education policy and energy policy, yesterday, President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an official policy directive rewriting the welfare reform law of 1996. The new policy guts the federal work requirements that were the foundation of the Clinton-era reform.

While this real news occurred yesterday, most of the media remained fixated on political ads and speeches, letting a major and unilateral shift in America’s welfare system go nearly unreported.

Welfare reform replaced the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children with a new program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The Heritage Foundation played a pivotal role in building bipartisan consensus for the reform and providing many of the recommendations that became part of the law. The whole point was that able-bodied adults should be required to work or prepare for work as a condition of receiving welfare aid.--NOT ANYMORE!

This reform was very successful. TANF became the only welfare program (out of more than 70) that promoted greater self-reliance. It moved 2.8 million families off the welfare rolls and into jobs so that they were providing for themselves. Child poverty fell, and single-parent employment rose. Recipients were required to perform at least 20–30 hours per week of work or job preparation activities in exchange for the cash benefit.

Now, Obama’s HHS is claiming that it can waive those work requirements that are at the heart of the law, and without Congress’s consent.

CONTINUED:  http://blog.heritage.org/2012/07/13/morning-bell-obamas-imperial-presidency-guts-welfare-reform/?roi=echo3-12545825025-9134079-87d2ebdcd4756a068c7587d44ed415a5&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell

The Battle for the American Conscience

More than 80 plaintiffs in 23 different lawsuits are now challenging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate that will require many religious institutions to provide health insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and other contraceptive services. At the heart of these lawsuits is whether the government’s purported interest in marginally increasing access to contraceptive services trumps the basic right to religious liberty that both individuals and institutions have traditionally enjoyed.


CONTINUED:  http://links.heritage.org/hostedemail/email.htm?CID=12282101299&ch=8F71D8A51C95995738F8500033042729&h=086fae4dbd371780f50d671c2cb9b281&ei=WIOCQB8Nq

Road to Repeal Obamacare Rally--Rockingham, NC

Stand Up For Religious Freedom!


At The Road To Repeal Obamacare Rally!
The Road begins Sat March 24th  Nationwide Starting in DC!

If you can’t make it to DC your invited to participate in a local North Carolina Rally here in Rockingham, NC, at Broad St Square Hwy 74 Business 801 E Broad Ave, 1 Pm Saturday, March 24th

Join us as we Stand Up to President Obama and all his HHS mandates that go along with ObamaCare including Free birth control. These Rallies will be nationwide to send a message To President Obama and the Supreme Court which argues ObamaCare Monday to Wednesday. Rain date Sunday March 25th at 3:00pm.


Sign our Petition Which will be sent toDC!

For info call Rev Russ Fincham 910-997-7370 NC State Coordinator Tea Party Patriots

A Message on Obamacare from the Liberty Counsel

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
3/14/2012

The news about ObamaCare in the past 24 hours is truly shocking! My profound resolve to make sure the immoral and impractical ObamaCare healthcare “reform” law is struck down has grown with each new revelation!

Thousands of participants in Liberty Counsel’s focused prayer campaign are already fervently calling upon the Lord to deliver us from ObamaCare! After you read about today’s “announcements,” I feel certain you will want to lend YOUR voice to that prayer. Please read my important message on ObamaCare and its latest dictatorial “mandate” – Mat.

It’s now official. Contained in just-released Health and Human Services guidelines is yet another mandate that requires an “abortion premium” for the establishment of state health care exchanges.

According to our friends at LifeNews…
“To comply with the accounting requirement, plans will collect a $1 abortion surcharge from each premium payer… The enrollee will make two payments, $1 per month for abortion and another payment for the rest of the services covered."

As described in the rule, the surcharge can only be disclosed to the enrollee at the time of enrollment. Furthermore, insurance plans may only advertise the total cost of the premiums without disclosing that enrollees will be charged a $1 per month fee to directly subsidize abortions.”

Here’s the bottom line: All Americans were lied to by our President, who promised that ObamaCare would not enhance abortion services, nor would taxpayer money be used to fund these murderous procedures!

And you will certainly remember the President’s oh-so-sincere promise that “If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it.”


It turns out that, too, was a convenient “misrepresentation.”

CBO Report: ObamaCare cost estimates have doubled!
Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its most recent projections revealing that ObamaCare’s costs will be more than double what the President promised and Congress approved – from $900 Billion to $1.76 Trillion. Analysts say the true cost will, in all likelihood, far exceed $2 Trillion over that ten-year span.

We have been saying all along that the Obama administration used accounting trickery to insure that his healthcare package came in under $1 Trillion. Now that, too, has been CONFIRMED.


Far fewer people will be able to obtain employer plans – or keep their existing plans – than was falsely promised.

Further, the CBO report disclosed the likelihood that four million people – more than four times the original estimate – will be unable to have access to healthcare services through their employers.

We must fervently pray to be delivered from the murderous, unaffordable, deceitful snares of ObamaCare!

I was taken aback yesterday when President Barak Obama, the leader who habitually shuns National Day of Prayer observances, called for a “prayer vigil” to rally public support for his cornerstone legislation.

As I said yesterday, I applaud the President’s desire to submit ObamaCare to the Lord, but I think he may be very surprised at His response!

I am requesting that ALL friends of Liberty Counsel rise up in an unprecedented wave of unity – and PRAY – not to sway public opinion – but, as Joel 1:14 declares, to “Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.”

Beginning March 26th, the United States Supreme Court will hear three days of oral argument on the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Law” cases. Their deliberations will include many of the key components of Liberty Counsel’s lawsuit against ObamaCare.

The President will doubtless rally supporters outside the Supreme Court that day – but I believe that together, you and I will be joined by well over 100,000 believers – faithfully praying for every phase of the Court hearings and the deliberative period leading up to their ruling being released, probably in June.

Soon, I will be passing along specific prayer requests and key issues for which to pray effectively and fervently.

For now, let’s start with the painfully obvious: ObamaCare has now been exposed as being an engine of death for pre-born Americans. And it is destroying our precious freedom of conscience by FORCING participants to pay an “abortion premium”!

The fact that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ new “guidelines” require insurance providers to hide the “abortion surcharge” in overall premium payments clearly demonstrates the administration’s intent to deceive pro-moral Americans.

LORD, DELIVER US FROM OBAMACARE!
Our commitment to pray will be recorded in a unique “Book of Remembrance.”

Our Book of Remembrance is based on the pattern described in Malachi 3:16…

“A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.”


It commemorates the names of those joining a solemn assembly to petition the Lord in a time of great trouble – in fact, a time like now!


Our Book of Remembrance is the roll of a national gathering of Believers, convened on the Internet, covenanting to join in prayer in the Spirit of Joel 1:14.

It will contain the names of multiplied tens of thousands of deeply concerned Christians who will be crying, “Lord, deliver us from ObamaCare!” throughout the period of time leading up to the expected announcement of the Court’s holdings in June.

Our nation desperately needs 100,000 or more prayerful patriots to be included in Liberty Counsel’s Book of Remembrance. More than anything else, Liberty Counsel’s Book of Remembrance is a way for you to play a direct role in STOPPING ObamaCare now and for all time!


Click here to add your name to the roll of Believers who will commit to pray over the next several weeks.

When you sign our Book of Remembrance, we will send you a free bumper sticker that declares, “Lord, deliver us from ObamaCare!”


Click here to see this full-sized, high-quality vinyl product:

We are totally committed to seeking God’s Hand of deliverance!
In early May 2011, as I entered the courtroom of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals facing the Department of Justice in our case “Liberty University v. Geithner,” I was carrying our Amici Book. If you will remember, the book was filled with over 76,000 names of people who had committed to pray for us that day and throughout this process.

As I’ve shared with you before, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled that the individual mandate is a “tax” under the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA), and thus the court does not have jurisdiction to rule on the merits until the “tax” is paid and a “refund” is sought by a taxpayer.

Thus, according to the appeal court’s logic, the case could not even be brought to the federal courts until the mandate becomes effective in 2014.

This ruling went against every court in America that considered ObamaCare! Every other court found that the mandate is a “penalty,” not a tax, and that the AIA does not apply.

There was never any doubt that the Supreme Court would be the final arbiter of the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Now, as I look back over these events, I CLEARLY see God’s providential Hand guiding the process and answering our prayers! And I expect nothing less than His blessing as the Supreme Court considers ObamaCare’s final disposition.

I know that God’s people were praying that day last May and throughout this long, drawn-out process. Further, I believe the Lord has uniquely prepared Liberty Counsel for this season in our nation’s history. I believe that God is bigger than all of this – and that our Fourth Circuit ruling and the DOJ’s appeal certainly didn’t take Him by surprise!

The Lord has continually honored our work and the prayers of His people. The evidence of that is quite clear!

That’s why I am once again calling upon you, to add YOUR name to the Book of Remembrance and to show your commitment to pray, “Lord, deliver us from ObamaCare!” To indicate your prayer commitment and to receive your free bumper sticker, click here:

This legal battle against the government takeover of the American healthcare system is arguably the most historic litigation ever fought in the United States federal judiciary! It is truly worthy of every American Christian’s best prayer effort.

Thank you in advance for your prayer support and continuing partnership with Liberty Counsel. May God richly bless you!

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

P.S. The High Court’s ruling, expected in June, will impact every business, healthcare facility, health insurer, and, most importantly, every individual in America. Their holding will either restore several of the pillars of our Constitution that ObamaCare violates, or further extend Big Government’s reach into the lives of every American.

The Book of Remembrance is simply your commitment to pray, “Lord, deliver us from ObamaCare!” from March to June. Please pray for the Supreme Court Justices, their deliberations, and their decisions.

I pray EVERY American will pray for His will to be done in this historic case! Click here to add your name to our vital Book of Remembrance and to order your complimentary bumper sticker:

http://www.libertyaction.org/346/petition.asp

KUHNER: Obama's culture of death - Washington Times

KUHNER: Obama's culture of death - Washington Times
President Obama is on the verge of achieving his liberal revolution. His goal is to destroy our Judeo-Christian culture and replace it with European-style radical secularism.


The administration is now contemplating forcing health insurance companies to provide free birth control - including the “morning-after” pill - as part of Obamacare. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seriously considering adding contraception to the list of services that must be fully covered by insurers without charging co-payments. HHS is expected to make its final decision before Aug. 1. In other words, Mr. Obama’s government-run health care system may easily include another monstrosity: mandating that taxpayers subsidize the “morning-after” pill.

CONTINUED:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/21/obamas-culture-of-death/

Number of healthcare reform law waivers climbs above 1,000

The number of temporary healthcare reform waivers granted by the Obama administration to organizations climbed to more than 1,000, according to new numbers disclosed by the Department of Health and Human Services.


HHS posted 126 new waivers on Friday, bringing the total to 1,040 organizations that have been granted a one-year exemption from a new coverage requirement included in the healthcare reform law enacted almost a year ago. Waivers have become a hot-button issue for Republicans, eager to expose any vulnerabilities in the reform law.

READ MORE:   http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/147715-number-of-healthcare-reform-law-waivers-climbs-above-1000

Citizen Link

Law of Economics Wreaking Havoc on Health Care Law

http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/10/law-of-economics-wreaking-havoc-on-health-care-law/
Posted by Catherine Snow


The utopian promises made by President Obama about the health care overhaul are proving –rapidly – to be everything but what was pledged.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently granted 30 large companies – including McDonald’s – special waivers from adhering to certain mandates in the health care law. Positioned by HHS as a step to provide “continuous coverage,” policy watchers call it a move to avoid nearly one million workers from being left without coverage – right before the election.

Philip Klein wrote today on The American Spectator:

“Yet by granting waivers to avert PR nightmares, like the news of McDonald’s dropping coverage, it also adds another disturbing element to the ObamaCare regime. Those companies with the best access and lobbyists are in the best position to be granted a waiver. Bureaucrats can choose to apply a different set of rules to different businesses, and in some cases those rules can determine whether a given business survives. Thus, the waivers themselves are another example of the arbitrary nature of government power.”

MORE CRACKS IN THE LAW

In today’s commentary, “Congress Can’t Repeal Economics,” author and FOX Business Network host John Stossel aptly pointed out that the laws of economics have “struck back.”

“Health insurers Wellpoint, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, and CoventryOne will stop writing policies for all children. Why? Because Obamacare requires that they insure already sick children for the same price as well children.

“That sounds compassionate, but—in case Obamacare fanatics haven’t noticed—sick children need more medical care. Insurance is about risk, and already sick children are 100 percent certain to be sick when their coverage begins. So if the government mandates that insurance companies cover sick children at the lower well-children price, insurers will quit the market rather than sandbag their shareholders. This is not callousness—it’s fiduciary responsibility. Insurance companies are not charities.

“So, thanks to the compassionate Congress and president, parents of sick children will be saved from expensive insurance—by being unable to obtain any insurance! That’s how government compassion works.

“In 2014, the same rule will kick in for adults. You now know what to expect.”

UTOPIA UNRAVELS

After signing health care into law on March 25, Obama went on to chastise Republicans, conservatives and Tea Party participants:

“From this day forward, all of the cynics, all the naysayers – they’re going to have to confront the reality of what this reform is and what it isn’t… this isn’t a government takeover of our health care system.

“They’ll see that if Americans like their doctor, they’ll be keeping their doctor. You like your plan? You’ll be keeping your plan. No one is taking that away from you…”

However, not every liberal agreed.

Democrat pollsters Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen predicted the Nov. 2 fallout:

“Bluntly put, this is the political reality: First, the battle for public opinion has been lost. Comprehensive health care has been lost. If it fails, as appears possible, Democrats will face the brunt of the electorate’s reaction. If it passes, however, Democrats will face a far greater calamitous reaction at the polls. Wishing, praying or pretending will not change these outcomes.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Read John Stossel’s article, “Congress Can’t Repeal Economics.”
http://reason.com/archives/2010/10/07/congress-cant-repeal-economics