Health reform implementation

“We're concerned about the implementation,” Hoyer said Tuesday during a press briefing in the Capitol.

Sen. Dean Heller is crafting legislation to prevent the IRS from hiring new employees to implement the healthcare law.

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) doubled down Tuesday on his comparison that fundraising calls made by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are akin to the Iran-Contra scandal.

"This is arguably an even bigger issue," Alexander told The Washington Post. "It’s the same kind of offense to the Constitution. It’s the same kind of thumbing your nose at Article 1."

News broke last week that Sebelius solicited donations from the healthcare industry for efforts to boost enrollment in ObamaCare's new coverage options. The move has garnered criticism from Republicans, who say Sebelius may have violated federal law. 

Senator says Sebelius should stop healthcare fundraising

House panel questions resignation of top FDA official

CMS won't penalize hospitals in states slow to expand Medicaid

Republicans and Democrats have sparred over the effect of the healthcare law on the nation’s budget.

The targeting of conservative groups by federal tax officials is raising tough questions for the Internal Revenue Service as it prepares to carry out major parts of ObamaCare.

The Health secretary has asked industry executives to donate to Enroll America, a non-profit group formed to promote ObamaCare.

Critics of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are seizing on the agency's forthcoming role in implementing ObamaCare to argue that the law will not be enforced fairly. Several leading Republicans, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), said Monday that the IRS should not be trusted to administer the law given the way it targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny starting in 2010.

"ObamaCare relies very heavily on the IRS," Gingrich said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe." "Why would you trust the bureaucracy with your health if you can’t trust the bureaucracy with your politics?” 

Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.), a member of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Oversight, and RedState blogger Erick Erickson made similar points on Monday.

The IRS is charged undertaking with several major tasks under the Affordable Care Act, including distributing the law's tax subsidies to buy insurance and enforcing its individual mandate. Most of the agency's activity under healthcare reform is tightly controlled by law, and experts argue that its decisions will mostly be black and white.

Still, GOP strategists predicted that the ongoing scandal could cause a few more centrist Democrats to side with Republicans this week when the House votes to repeal ObamaCare. The vote will provide conservative freshman lawmakers with their first opportunity to officially oppose the healthcare law.
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If the federal healthcare overhaul rolls out like its predecessor in Massachusetts, employer-based health insurance might be safe.

Republicans argue that President Obama's healthcare law will erode employer-based coverage. Businesses will stop offering coverage to their workers and instead push employees into individual policies, critics predict.

But when Massachusetts implemented its healthcare law — highly similar to the Affordable Care Act — employer-based insurance actually increased, according to a new report from the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Why would you trust the bureaucracy with your health if you can’t trust the bureaucracy with your politics," asked Gingrich.