GOP report claims billions in Obamacare payments were illegal

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Washington Examiner:

Republicans on two leading House committees have released a 150-page report they say proves the Obama administration funded an Obamacare cost-sharing program illegally.

 

Even though Treasury lawyers concluded in 2012 that payments for the cost-sharing program and the healthcare law's insurance subsidies can't come from the same fund, the administration prepared a legal memo explaining its justification for doing so and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew authorized the IRS to administer both subsidies the same way, according to the report.

 

House Republicans have already sued the administration over the issue, contending that the Obama administration should have gotten a funding allocation from Congress before awarding the money to the cost-sharing program, which gives low-income Americans extra help in covering co-payments when visiting the doctor.

 

A federal judge ruled in May that the administration gave insurance companies the cost-sharing money without constitutional authority, but stayed the decision pending appeal. The administration filed a notice on Wednesday to challenge the initial decision.

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GOP on Obamacare payments: 'This is stealing from the American people'

 

House lawmakers lashed out at the Obama administration Thursday, arguing that officials knowingly circumvented Congress to get $7 billion for Obamacare.

 

The House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing on the funding surrounding Obamacare's cost-sharing reduction payments, which pay down copays and deductibles. The committee, and the Energy & Commerce Committee, issued a report Thursday that said the administration didn't get a congressional appropriation for the payments, as required by law.

 

"Congress has never provided an appropriation for it. The administration knew this and didn't care," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the committee chairman. "This is stealing from the American people."

 

Brady also argued that the administration stonewalled the joint committee investigation that began in February 2015.

 

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/gop-on-ocare-payments-this-is-stealing/article/2595841