Aug 28 Section 431(a)

After reading this post from Declan McCullagh, I'm more convinced than ever that we should scrap the current health care legislation and start from scratch. Here's what convinced me:

One of the problems with any proposed law that's over 1,000 pages long and constantly changing is that much deviltry can lie in the details. Take the Democrats' proposal to rewrite health care policy, better known as H.R. 3200 or by opponents as "Obamacare."

Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."

Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details, there's no specified limit on what's available or unavailable, to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify "affordability credits."

Section 1801(a) says that 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.

Talk about Big Brother looking over your shoulder. Thinking that Chairman Waxman would knowingly write those provisions into the legislation is stunning and appalling. It's also totally unacceptable. I can't help but believe that the vast majority of people would find it repulsive and intrusive.

It's time to pull the plug on H.R. 3200. This type of intrusion into our private life is unacceptable.

Comments welcome at LFR.