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9/29/16, "Watchdog knocks administration for misusing Obamacare funds," Politico, Paul Demko
"The Obama administration is illegally sending payments to health
insurers instead of to the federal Treasury as Obamacare requires,
according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
The congressional auditor's report focuses on how the government
handles fees paid by insurers for Obamacare's reinsurance program, which
collects money from all health plans to help insurers cover the cost of
sicker patients in the health care law's exchanges.
In 2014, the industry-funded reinsurance program was supposed to
provide $10 billion to insurers and $2 billion to the federal Treasury.
But when total collections from insurers amounted to only $9.7 billion,
the Department of Health and Human Services opted to funnel all of the
money toward insurers. The agency paid insurers $7.9 billion in claims
for 2014, the first year of exchange coverage, and held over the
remaining $1.7 billion for future payments.
Republicans, who asked the GAO investigate the issue, hailed the
GAO's finding as vindication for their longstanding claims that the
Obama administration is wrongly prioritizing insurers over taxpayers."...
[Ed. note: GOP "hailed the finding"? How
pathetic can you get? Why is it great news to learn after the fact that
the GOP was useless in stopping ongoing theft of US taxpayer dollars by
their pal Obama?]
(continuing): "“This new opinion from the government’s top watchdog confirms that
the Obama administration is not above the law,” said Republican members
of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a statement. "The
administration needs to put an end to the Great Obamacare Heist
immediately.”"...
[Ed. note: "Confirms that Obama admin. isn't above the law"? So what? What are you going to do about it? Nothing. Thanks to the GOP, the US is now a third world toilet.]
(continuing): "HHS told the GAO that its funding decision was within its discretion
under the Affordable Care Act. But the GAO ruled otherwise, finding that
the statute clearly requires that the Treasury get a share of the
funds.
“The fact that HHS’ collection ultimately fell short of the projected amounts does not alter the meaning of the statute,” the ruling concludes.
HHS and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment."
................
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