(Washington, DC) – On Thursday, the House passed H.R. 2775, the No Subsidies Without Verification Act, a bill to ensure that Affordable Care Act exchange subsidies are granted only to consumers who meet the eligibility requirements. H.R. 2775 prohibits the distribution of premium tax credits and cost reduction subsidies before the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General certifies that the Department has an operational program in place to verify household income and other coverage qualifications.
Rep. Bucshon (IN-08) released the following statement:Â
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“The exchange infrastructures and consumer verifications under the Affordable Care Act are behind schedule and critical security testing to protect sensitive consumer data has been delayed. Not to mention, the Administration has exempted big business from the law while expecting individual Americans to comply with confusing and burdensome rules and regulations. It is increasingly apparent that Affordable Care Act is not ready for primetime and never will be.
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“When the Administration announced the Affordable Care Act exchange infrastructure was not ready to verify the eligibility of healthcare consumers, their solution was instead to rely the consumer to self report their income and healthcare status – leaving the door open for fraudulent behavior. Today, the House passed important legislation to stop fraudulent healthcare claims before they happen and protect taxpayers from funding subsidies to consumers who are ineligible.
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“While I firmly believe that the Affordable Care Act should be repealed in its entirety, this bill is an important step to protecting healthcare consumers and taxpayers from an unfair and reckless regulation from this Administration.†          Â
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BACKGROUND:
On July 5th, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released more than 600 pages of Affordable Care Act regulations which included an announcement that the government would no longer verify that each applicant for the exchange subsidies are actually qualified for the assistance. Instead, the administration would rely on self-attestation and sample audits to “protect†the integrity of this new $1 trillion entitlement program. HHS later announced a change in this policy and stated it would extend the sample population to 100%.
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The Problem:
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- Individuals who self-attest will still receive taxpayer-funded subsidies during the audits, which could take up to 6 to 12 months.
- Not verifying eligibility opens the door to approximately $250 billion in fraudulent payments through Affordable Care Act subsidies, all to prop up a law that the American people continue to overwhelmingly reject. (Source: WSJ)
- No official changes have been made to the rule—there is no guarantee to the American people that applicants will be verified.
- No information has been provided to Congress on how long HHS will take to verify eligibility.
The Solution:
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H.R. 2775, the No Subsidies Without Verification Act, prevents the Obama administration’s attempt to defraud taxpayers by demanding that accurate verification systems be put in place before subsidies are dispersed. This sensible measure requires the HHS Inspector General to verify subsidies are issued to only eligible Americans. H.R. 2775 prevents fraudulent Affordable Care Act subsidy claims before they go out – ending the pay and chase of fraudulent claims that plagues our health care system.
Verification Protects Taxpayer Dollars. The Democrat-led Senate Appropriations Committee has already unanimously passed legislation (S. 1284, Section 226) affirming its belief that the Obama administration must verify eligibility before doling out taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Additionally, a Senate companion measure has been offered by Senator Coburn, S. 1455.
