Pinboard Links

Flap’s Links and Comments for April 5th on 09:33

April 5, 2011 /

These are my links for April 5th from 09:33 to 11:59:

  • ObamaCare: Senate Nixes 1099 Requirement, Obama’s Signature Is Next – Following the lead of the House, the Senate today voted 87 to 12 to eliminate an onerous tax-reporting duty in the new healthcare reform law.

    The repeal measure now goes to President Barack Obama, who has signaled that he will sign it.

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires all businesses, beginning in 2012, to file federal tax form 1099 if they buy $600 or more worth of goods or services in a given year from any vendor. Similar to Congress, Obama has decried the paperwork requirement as too burdensome. In the past, however, the president and Congress have wrangled about how to make up the roughly $20 billion in revenue that the government will lose if the 1099 provision is repealed.

    Before passage of the ACA in early 2010, businesses needed to file a 1099 with the Internal Revenue Service only for services provided by unincorporated vendors, such as sole proprietors. The ACA expands that reporting duty to include goods as well as services, and all vendors, including incorporated ones. Congressional Democrats added this provision to the ACA to help pay for healthcare reform, thinking that it would identify previously unreported and untaxed vendor revenue.

    The business community, as well as organized medicine, has vehemently objected to the new requirement, saying it will it cost them too much in time and money. A medical practice, for example, would need to file a 1099 for a $600 printer that it bought from Office Depot.

  • Proposed GOP 2012 Budget Turns Medicare Into Subsidy Program – House Republicans today unveiled an ambitiously frugal budget for fiscal 2012 that they say will save the Medicare program in part by eventually giving beneficiaries subsidies to purchase private health plans.

    The GOP budget, released by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chair of the House Budget Committee, would attempt to save Medicaid as well by turning it into a simple block-grant program. More Medicaid and Medicare savings would be achieved by capping noneconomic (pain and suffering) damages in medical malpractice cases — a tort reform designed to reduce the number frivolous lawsuits and jackpot jury awards.

    The proposal also addresses the 29.5% cut in Medicare reimbursement for physicians next year by instituting an unspecified 10-year "fix" of the payment formula. The cost of that fix must not add to the federal deficit, however.

    ======

    Read it all

  • Untitled (http://twitter.com/flap) – @Steph4Gngrch12 Not my name or my city. Check my twitter profile.
  • President 2012 Video: GOP Uses Social Media to Respond to Obama Campaign Launch | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – President 2012 Video: GOP Uses Social Media to Respond to Obama Campaign Launch #tcot #catcot
  • Flap’s Links and Comments for April 5th on 08:04 | Flap’s Blog – FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog – Flap’s Links and Comments for April 5th on 08:04 #tcot #catcot
  • Paul Ryan: The GOP Path to Prosperity – WSJ.com – Paul Ryan: The GOP Path to Prosperity
  • The Ryan Plan Doesn’t Privatize Medicare – By Veronique de Rugy – The Corner – National Review Online – The Ryan Plan Doesn’t Privatize Medicare