Implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Published August 8, 2012

In this Heartland policy brief, Dan Pilla asserts that unless there is a substantial change in leadership in Washington in the next election, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will go into effect as planned. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the measure as constitutional in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, (Sup. Ct. Docket Nos. 11-393 and 11-400, decided June 28, 2012). Through its decision, the Court paved the way for the national health care program to roll ahead.

The Internal Revenue Service is just one of several federal agencies responsible for implementing the legislation. Specifically, the IRS is responsible for the enforcement and administration of 47 of the act’s tax-related provisions. This brief also addresses the role the IRS will play in enforcing and administering the PPACA. My focus here is solely on the question of how the IRS can be expected to play an ever-growing role in your life and in the day-to-day affairs of every business in the nation as the tentacles of the PPACA wrap themselves around the most important and personal elements of your life.