As if Obama’s health care proposals were not flawed enough, CBS News reports a previously unnoticed provision of the bill which makes a shambles of any privacy surrounding your federal tax returns. Under the House bill, the IRS is required to make available to the new government Health Choices Commissioner” established by the legislation and to each state health program all of your personal tax information.
In a blog, CBSNews’ Declan McCullagh reports that “Section 431 (a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted grow income, the number of dependents, and ‘other information as is prescribed by’ regulation” to the “new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs.”
And, McCullagh also reports that, under Section 1801(a) “the Social Security Administration can obtain tax return data on anyone who may be eligible for a ‘low-income prescription drug subsidy’ but has not applied for it.”
So the Health Choices Commissioner and anyone in his office, the fifty state health programs and their staffs, and the vast Social Security Administration will all now have access to your personal tax information.
It might as well be published in the newspapers.
The rationale for providing this confidential tax information to all these people is not only to check on the eligibility of those who are seeking federal subsidy – a possibly appropriate use of it – but, also, to those who have not applied but might be eligible. This later20provision essentially authorizes the Social Security Administration to seek and obtain anyone’s income tax information under the guise of determining if they should have applied for a subsidy.
In his blog, McCullagh quotes Tom Giovanetti of the Institute for Policy Innovation as saying “How many thousands of federal employees will have access to your record? The privacy of your health records will be only as good as the most nosy, most dishonest, and most malcontented federal employee.” And not just your health records, your financial records too!
This legislation requiring an agency-to-agency transfer of confidential tax information runs against the general policy of the Privacy Act which prohibits such a paper flow. Generally, information has to come from the individual involved and cannot simply be passed from one government bureau to another. The IRS takes particular pains to keep tax returns confidential and leaks are rare. But this legislation will end any hope or pretense of privacy.
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There is something in this bill for everyone.
1) De qualification of all private insurance companies, as per page 16 of the bill.
2) Taxation of individuals, who are not covered by a qualified insurance plan.
3) Taxation of employers who have payrolls of $250,000 or more that do not offer qualified health care insurance to their employees.
4) Grandma and Grandpa will get talked to about not taking all measures to keep them alive.
5) One, count-em, ONE presidential appointee to make ALL health care coverage decisions for the entire U S of A!
6) 9 advisers to that ONE appointee, appointed by a president that knows NOTHING about health care and another 9 appointed by the U.S. Comptroller (formally known as the General Accounting Office.) –But of course we are being told that there will be no rationalizing, to save money! No… no no… The reason for the Comptroller having such a place in this bill is because he has some extra time on his hands.
7) yada yada yada
Yes there is more. And I will be talking about it at a health care meeting this Thursday night (9/3), with or without my congresswoman, Louise Slaughter! For info, see: http://www.debrajmsmith.com/HR3200.html
We HAVE to take this into our hands. We cannot just sit by and allow this atrocity to happen to us.
Debra J.M. Smith
of
www.InformingChristians.com
PS… I heard you (Dick Morris) on Sean Hannity tonight. Great job!
GREAT JOB DEBRA!
There is another section that reads…This section amends the Social Security Act. The government has the power to determine what constitutes an ‘applicable [medical] condition.’ The government has the power to determine who is allowed readmission into a hospital. This determination will be made by statistics: when enough people have been discharged for the same condition, an individual may be readmitted…
This is government rationing, pure, simple, and coincides with Obama’s answer to the woman with the 100-year-old mother, “Are you going to take into account the spunk and spirit, the will to live?” was, “I don’t think we can do that.”
I went to my first ever town hall meeting and Gene Taylor (D) indicated he would vote no because of the expense. I hope that continues in September.
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