GOP seeks to block ObamaCare settlements with insurers

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The Hill:

Republicans in Congress are plotting ways to block the Obama administration from paying insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars as part of an ObamaCare program.

 

GOP lawmakers say they are looking at “a dozen” options — including a possible provision in the year-end spending bill — to prevent the administration from using an obscure fund within the Treasury Department to pay out massive settlements to insurers.

 

The insurance companies are suing over a shortfall in an ObamaCare program that they say is damaging their businesses.

Settling the cases could help insurers deal with losses on the ObamaCare marketplaces, but Republicans argue the move would be a “bailout” that would circumvent the will of Congress.

 

Whether federal officials will actually pursue the settlements is an open question.

 

Any settlement between the Justice Department and health insurers would likely come out of the so-called judgment fund, a pool within the Treasury that is typically used in federal legal disputes.