The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday issued subpoenas to the chief executives of eight major health insurance companies over rampant fraud that pervades the enhanced Obamacare tax credit.
“The Committee on the Judiciary is examining Obamacare subsidies fraud and the ability of current regulatory laws to address this fraud. Obamacare created government-run marketplaces and a subsidy system for individuals to purchase healthcare,” House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan (R-OH), Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) wrote to eight health insurance executives, which was obtained by Breitbart News.
They continued, “The subsidies, which are advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) paid directly from the federal government to insurance companies, cover an enrollee’s premium above a percentage of their income. This structure means that the government pays the health insurance companies more money each time the insurer increases premiums, but the consumer does not see this cost increase when choosing a plan.”
The House Judiciary Committee leaders noted that, during the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden-Harris administration and the Democratic majority in Congress expanded the subsidies, but the subsidies have now expired and reverted back to the original Obamacare levels.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found last December that there had been a staggering level of fraud that occurred thanks to the enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
The GAO report found:
- 58,000 Social Security numbers that received the APTC matched Social Security Administration death data.
- 7,000 people who had Social Security were dead before coverage began, meaning the applications used Social Security numbers of dead people.
- $94 million in APTC was sent to health insurers on behalf of deceased people.
The letters noted that the Trump administration last June issued the Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule to limit Obamacare fraud; however, a Biden-appointed judge issued a stay that blocked these fraud protection measures. The court claimed that the Trump administration had violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when promulgating the rule. The decision is on appeal.
The letters noted that, given the rampant Obamacare fraud, the committee is “investigating whether the APA needs to be reform so as to ensure that important healthcare fraud prevention measures can be swiftly implemented and are not unreasonably burdened by administrative procedural requirements.” The letters added that the health insurance companies’ responses will inform the House’s consideration about potential “legislative reforms.”