Dr. Charles Willey is the CEO of Innovare Health Advocates in St. Louis, a medical group employing five physicians and five nurse practitioners in five offices. The good Doctor is a prominent and well-respected internist, who has been practicing medicine for over 30 years. In this capacity, he has spent the majority of his life improving the long-term health of his patients.
Unfortunately, says Dr. Willey, the greatest barrier to this goal is government intervention into my professional judgment, my office management and my patient care (Amen to that).
He went on to say that ObamaCare is being increasingly recognized as a "train wreck." Trust me: it is demoralizing doctors, distracting providers toward bureaucracy and away from patient care. It is disrupting quality and access, and damaging health.
The formula for this chaos is simple: Increasing access to care was a central ruse in passing the ACA. Cost is the most important factor in access to care. Government involvement in health care increases cost. As the ACA accelerates this increasing cost, it will accelerate decreased access.
Now, contrary to the clear legislative language in ObamaCare, the administration is directly impeding my ability to design a health plan with proper incentives and long-term affordability for my own employees.
I have always offered quality health insurance to my own employees, striving for a benefit design which increases their short-term economic incentive to become and remain healthy. As a physician, I know this is a critical strategy to fight chronic illness, especially self-manageable conditions such as obesity, COPD and most type 2 diabetes.
The IRS has, unlawfully, substantively rewritten the employer mandate in the ACA by expanding its enforcement into states where the clear language of the ACA says it does not apply.
The ACA states that companies with over 50 employees in states with state-run exchanges (that is, participating states) that fail to provide "minimum value" health benefits for their employees are subject to penalties if their employees obtain insurance subsidies through a state-created exchange.
If the state in which the employer does business opts out of creating a state exchange, as the State of Missouri has, then the employer is not subject to this penalty.
The legislative language is clear that this applies only to exchanges established and run by state governments. The legislative history shows Congress set this up intentionally to encourage states to create their own exchanges. It is doubtful the bill would have passed without this provision. Along with individual citizens and small business owners from five other states,
I am suing the federal government to stop the IRS' abuse of its power. Our lawsuit aims to uphold the rule of law by overturning an IRS power-grab that Congress forbade.
As a physician employer of over 50 employees in Missouri and a free citizen, I should have the liberty to choose my own employees' health plan without government intervention into its benefit design, and without penalty.
That is a liberty that Congress and the good State of Missouri preserved for me, and I am duty bound to protect that liberty not only for myself, but for the good of my patients and for my loyal, caring employees.
The IRS cannot and will not take that liberty away.
If your Medical Practice is in trouble with the IRS or State, you need an experienced advocate to stand up and protect your rights. At Selig & Associates, Inc, we meet with each and every client personally, and your first consultation is absolutely free. Selig & Associates, helping New Yorkers, one client at a time.
Originally Posted: http://nearsay.com/c/11977/11728/charles-willey-m-d-to-irs-stop-creating-chaos-for-doctors-and-patients-selig-associat
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