Blog: House Passes Bill to Keep IRS Out of Health Care

Statement

ObamaCare is a train wreck for American individuals, families and businesses. We now know that the health care law implements a massive tax on the American people and raids Medicare as a main source of funding, health care insurance premiums have sky rocketed since it's passage and it's implementation has been so disorganized that the President has had to delay key provisions of the legislation.

And now, President Obama wants you to further answer to the Internal Revenue Service which has violated your trust and forfeited its claim to a reputation of fairness and impartiality.

The IRS is in crisis. A year ago, my Committee requested an audit that confirmed the agency improperly targeted groups applying for tax-exempt status based on certain words such as "constitutional," "good government" and "freedom." Next, we found information that suggests the IRS subjected certain organizations already approved for tax-exempt status to additional scrutiny during the 2012 election. And, this is the same agency that will be responsible for enforcing and implementing the President's health care law.

The power and influence of the IRS will grow exponentially in the next year to accommodate the thousands of pages of ObamaCare. Because the law's individual mandate, all Americans will be required to submit and trust the agency with personal health information that will be further shared with other federal and state bureaucrats -- potentially opening the door to more abuse, more targeting and more harassment of American citizens.

Recent scandals have made it clear that Americans should not be required to answer to the IRS regarding their health care decisions. This is why I voted for the Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act --H.R. 2009-- a bill that will prohibit the agency from implementing and enforcing any provisions of the President's health care law.

Despite acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel admitting in a House hearing yesterday that he would rather stay on his existing federal employee health care plan, the agency will enforce a tax penalty for those who don't meet the "government-approved" insurance standards. The IRS has also requested $439 million in new spending to hire nearly 2,000 new agents just to implement the unpopular health care law.

The facts speak for themselves -- ObamaCare has been and will continue to be a disaster impacting every American. I am committed to dismantling, defunding and repealing ObamaCare so that American families, individuals and businesses have the freedom to choose quality, affordable health care that meets their individual needs.

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