News Flash: Obamacare a “Massive Undertaking”
The Government Accountability Office released a new report regarding IRS implementation of Obamacare yesterday, and it includes some interesting nuggets. First, the report’s opening paragraph calls the law a “massive undertaking” for the agency, which must implement 47 separate statutory provisions – yet another reminder of the law’s sweeping scope, and the intrusive reach of the IRS permeating the measure.
Second, the report notes that “implementation costs are expected to reach $881 million through fiscal year 2013, with $521 million of that amount being provided” through the $1 billion mandatory implementation “slush fund” included in the law. The report also notes that IRS has yet to meet an earlier GAO recommendation regarding a more detailed and up-to-date cost estimate of the agency’s projected spending on implementation.
Third, an organizational chart included in the report (and reproduced below) attempts to demonstrate how the IRS will implement Obamacare. Note that the word “doctor” and the word “patient” appear nowhere on the chart.
If you still don’t believe that this “massive undertaking” amounts to a massive government intrusion into the health care sector – what you might even call a takeover – the GAO report provides yet more evidence of that fact.