Rep. Diane Black
Reposted from The Ripon Advance, By Aaron Martin, September 3 - 2014 - Rep.
Diane Black (R-Tenn.) raised concerns on Thursday about the lack of a
verification process to determine eligibility for health insurance
subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
Black, a member of the House
Ways and Means Committee, outlined her concerns in a letter to the
Department of Health and Human Services.
“Verification of eligibility
for federal subsidies is not only common sense, it is also required
under law,” Black said. “Obamacare’s premium tax credits and other
subsidies are projected to cost nearly $1 trillion over 10 years as it
stands already. It is deeply disturbing that the Obama administration
would not take the steps necessary to establish effective procedures to
protect taxpayers and use every possible resource to complete the
verification process.”
Black said the Obama administration has tools at its disposal to
implement broader verification practices that are already in use by
other government programs, but it has elected to limit its own ability
to collect the information.
“With the 2015 open enrollment
period fast approaching, we need to know what steps the administration
is taking to guard against fraudulent payments and ensure comprehensive,
effective verification of eligibility for all applicants,” Black said.
The Obama administration did
not require states operating their own exchanges to implement income
verification to determine subsidy eligibility for insurance policies
that were purchased in fiscal year 2014, Black said.
In June, Black introduced the
No Subsidies Without Verification Act, which would require that an
income verification system be implemented before any additional taxpayer
subsidies are doled out.
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