HEALTHCARE HEARINGS SCHEDULED AS CONGRESSIONAL RECESS ENDS
Congress’s annual August recess ended today and both House and Senate groups have scheduled hearings this week relating to implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

On September 11, the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing to examine the progress made by the Internal Revenue Service thus far in preparing to fulfill its obligations under PPACA. According to the September 4 announcement of the hearing, “the Subcommittee will consider (1) how the IRS’s new duties under the health care law will affect both taxpayers and the IRS’s core revenue-collection function; (2) the IRS’s progress in implementing various provisions of the health care law, both those that are already in effect and those that are not yet in place; and (3) how the agency will coordinate with other federal departments, state governments, and stakeholders to implement the new tax provisions.” Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr. (R-La.) noted that the analysis is necessary because “the IRS is now charged with administering much of the health care law.”

On September 12, the House Ways and Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee will examine state adoption of health insurance exchanges. In the September 5 announcement of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Wally Herger (R-CA) noted that the necessary regulations for exchange operation, plan design, and eligibility have not yet been finalized. “Such uncertainty threatens to saddle stakeholders with higher costs and also increases the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Rep. Herger.

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