Yes. The law requires almost everyone to enroll in a one-size-fits-all "qualified" health plan, beginning in 2014. When you file your taxes, you must attach proof that you are enrolled. The law gives the IRS new powers to track you down and penalize you if you don't comply.
The law also empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make the important decisions: what "qualified" plans cover, how much you will be legally required to pay, and how much leeway your doctor will have.
The Obama Health Law also transfers decision-making power from your doctor to the federal government. Even if you are insured by Aetna, Cigna, or another private company and pay the premium yourself, the government is still in charge. You are required to be in a "qualified" plan, and qualified plans can pay only doctors who implement whatever regulations the Secretary of Health and Human Services imposes in the name of improving health care "quality." That covers everything in medicine- whether a doctor should use a stent or do a bypass surgery, or when to perform a cesarean section.
Under the new law, physicians are required to enter their patients' treatments into an electronic database, and that data will be monitored by the government. Doctors will be instructed on what the government deems to be cost-effective and appropriate care. The result is that doctors will be forced to choose between doing what their patient needs and avoiding a government penalty.
This is a huge loss of medical privacy and freedom. Never before has the federal government dictated how doctors treat privately insured patients, except on narrow issues such as drug safety. The Constitution does not permit it.
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