Tag Archives: Internal Revenue Service

Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center


National Women's Law Center
Here are some things we don’t think you should be punished for:

  • Having a chronic disease.
  • Taking care of an elderly parent.
  • Living in a neighborhood where exercising outdoors isn’t safe.

Seems obvious, right? But a loophole in the health care law could do just that.
We need your help to close a loophole in the health care law that could punish low-income women and women with chronic diseases. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released proposed rules on the health care law’s wellness program that would increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs for individuals who do not or cannot participate in certain wellness activities, such as an exercise program. Help us make sure that employer-sponsored wellness programs don’t penalize women and their families.
Programs that increase premiums or out-of-pocket costs for individuals who do not participate in employer-run wellness programs could cause women who hold more than one job, who have childcare or eldercare responsibilities, or health conditions that restrict their ability to participate in program activities to pay more for health coverage or health care. And they ignore other economic and environmental barriers to improving health for low-income women and the fact that women who are pregnant or breast feeding might be medically-advised against participating in certain activities, such as a weight-loss program.
You have less than a week to make your voice heard! The IRS is only taking comments about its proposed rules on the health care law’s wellness program until July 2. That’s why we need you to make your voice heard today.
Going to the gym and eating healthy foods are good goals but easier for some than others. If your neighborhood grocery store doesn’t have fresh vegetables, you have children or elderly family to care for, or your community doesn’t have an affordable gym or sidewalks for you to walk and run on— it may be nearly impossible to be part of a program that requires you to participate to keep your health insurance premiums or out of pocket costs affordable.
Take action now.
Thank you for all you do for women and families.
Sincerely,

Judy Waxman Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center

The President Talks About How to Build a Rising, Thriving Middle Class


Obama Cares: On the Friday before Mother’s Day, President Obama explained how the Affordable Care Act is helping women. For example, the law prevents insurance companies from charging women more than men and requires insurance companies to cover preventive services like mammograms free of charge.

Thanks to the women in this room and people all across the country, we worked really hard — and it’s now been more than three years since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and I signed it into law. It’s been nearly a year since the Supreme Court upheld the law under the Constitution. And, by the way, six months ago, the American people went to the polls and decided to keep going in this direction. So the law is here to stay.

Review of IRS: On Wednesday, the President delivered remarks on the Treasury Department’s review of the Internal Revenue Service and said the “misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable.” The President said he will hold the responsible parties accountable, put in place new safeguards to make sure this does not happen again, and work with Congress as it performs its oversight role.

I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way.

Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey: On Thursday, President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan held a press conference at the Rose Garden. The leaders discussed U.S. – Turkey relations such as trade and investment, mutual security, and the conflict in Syria.

Prime Minister Cameron of Great Britain: On Tuesday, the President welcomed British Prime Minister David Cameron to the White House. The global partners spoke about the upcoming Group of Eight summit, sustaining the global economy, and the conflict in Syria.

As we’ve said before, the great alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom is rooted in shared interests and shared values, and it’s indispensable to global security and prosperity.

National Peace Officers Memorial Service: On Wednesday, the President headed to the U.S. Capitol for the National Peace Officers Memorial Service. The event paid respect to law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty the last year. The 143 fallen officers were recognized for their courage on the front lines and their dedication to our community.

They exemplified the very idea of citizenship — that with our God-given rights come responsibilities and obligations to ourselves and to others. They embodied that idea. That’s the way they died. That’s how we must remember them. And that’s how we must live.

#WeTheGeeks: On Thursday, the White House launched “We the Geeks,” a new series of Google+ Hangouts highlighting the future of science, technology, and innovation in America. The first “We the Geeks” Hangout covered Grand Challenges, which are “ambitious goals on a national or global scale that capture the imagination and demand advances in innovation and breakthroughs in science and technology.”

FoolWatchWeekly …6/29


Obamacare Lives: What You Need to KnowWe’ll probably be parsing the words of the Supreme Court’s decision for weeks, but it looks like the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has survived. What’s it mean? The full story »

                       

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Republicans continue to choose -Anti-Choice Legislation


Last night House Republicans voted in favor of an appalling piece of anti-choice legislation that could force victims or rape and incest to relive their trauma during an IRS audit and deny millions of American women access to life-saving reproductive health care.

http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63cab1/1b9dd8ab/4a3ad271/4e0ce84b/3136141357/VEsE/

Their assault on women has nothing to do with saving money and everything to do with forcing extremist beliefs into the tax code of the United States of America.

And they didn’t stop there. They used the occasion to sneak in a provision restricting the definition of rape to deny victims access to reproductive health care — even after they claimed to have removed the language in the face of overwhelming public opposition.

We must take immediate, decisive action against this attack on women’s health and reproductive freedom.

Help us hold House Republicans accountable: Contribute $3 or more right now so we can get hard-hitting Rapid Response ads up holding Republican extremists in Congress accountable for their radical assault on women’s health care and reproductive freedom.

Republicans’ H.R. 3 bill would drastically restrict women’s options for reproductive services by imposing burdensome new regulations on public and private insurance coverage. If made law, women would be denied using money from their personal health savings accounts to pay for abortion services.

I know how important it is for all women to have access to reproductive health care and it is unconscionable that one party would hold women’s health hostage and use the tax code as a moral club to force their religious beliefs on every American.

We are just $27,215 short of our emergency Rapid Response goal of $100,000 by Midnight Tonight to fight this Republican extremism.

http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63cab1/1b9dd8ab/4a3ad271/4e0ce84b/3136141357/VEsE/

Help us hold House Republicans accountable: Contribute $3 or more right now so we can get hard-hitting Rapid Response ads up holding Republican extremists in Congress accountable for their radical assault on women’s health care and reproductive freedom.

With your help, we will stand up to this extremism and protect women’s reproductive freedom.

Thank you.

Rep. Jackie Speier

P.S. House Republicans will stop at nothing to appease their extremist anti-choice Tea Party backers. Please contribute right now so Democrats can get hard-hitting Rapid Response ads up to hold the extremists in Congress accountable for their radical assault on women’s health care and reproductive freedom.