Editor, The Herald:

As the various provisions of Obamacare are beginning to take effect, there are a lot of scary examples of this incredible overreach of government being brought forth. Some are true, and some are vastly overstated. A widely circulated letter from a Texas judge actually quoted from an early version of Obamacare which was quite different from the final version.

There are, however, a number of provisions of the law that are alarming, and not widely known. Here are some examples:

The “medical excise tax”, which was to be levied on medical appliances such as artificial limbs and pacemakers, is being applied to such purchases as sporting goods. Cabela's, a nationwide sporting goods company, actually highlights the mandated tax on their receipts for purchase of fishing tackle.

Senior citizens enrolled in Medicare will be required to receive “end-of-life” counseling every five years. A panel of medical professionals, not necessarily specialists, will advise those seniors with serious health problems about alternatives to expensive treatments. (Never mind that new hip you need to get around; just take this pill!)

The expansion of the federal government to accommodate the provisions of Obamacare is truly staggering. Up to 150,000 new civil service jobs, including 16,000 new IRS agents, will be created over the next several years.

A study recently published by the Harvard Business school has concluded that Kathleen Sibelius, the Health and Human services secretary, will have to appear before Congress later this year to request more than 700 billion dollars in additional funding to pay for those estimated 30 million people without health insurance (many of whom were covered by Medicaid).

There is some good news concerning this well-intentioned but horribly over-written law. Appearing before the Senate Finance committee hearing on the costs of Obamacare, three leading Democrat senators each testified that they are hearing from their constituents that they have been left without any health insurance coverage since their employers have opted to pay the fine for not enrolling in Obamacare and the “exchanges” that were to provide “lower cost” insurance have rejected their applications. Apparently, the healthcare exchange computer system will not communicate with the outdated IRS system, and continuously rejects most applicants. Those lucky few families that do manage to get accepted into Obamacare are finding their premiums as much as 30% higher than that which they paid under their employer-provided plans.

As many more Democrat legislators hear from their constituents about the adverse effects of Obamacare, there is a good chance that all or part of it can be repealed. If only five Democrat senators change their position on the law, a joint bill will pass both houses of congress and be sent to the president for signature. He will certainly veto the bill, and then 2/3 of each house can override that veto.

Take a few minutes and call both of our Democrat senators to tell them you want Obamacare overturned. Mark Warner can be reached at 1-877-676-2759, and Tim Kaine (if he's found his office yet) at (202)-224-4024

John Jamieson

Farmville