A new Senate report found that
illegal aliens wrongly benefited from nearly
a billion dollars in Obamacare subsidies, leaving the government
scrambling to recoup the money. (Fox News, Feb. 8, 2016; see Chairman Johnson Press Release)
The report, released by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), chairman of the Senate
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) practice of distributing cost assistance
in the form tax credits to Obamacare enrollees. (Fox News, Feb. 8, 2016) Chairman Johnson’s inquiry found that, as of June 2015, the
administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits to more than
500,000 individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they
failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence. (Id.)
CMS confirmed that, in 2015, 471,000 Obamacare enrollees failed to verify
their citizenship or immigration status within the required time period. (Id.)
According to CMS spokesman Aaron Albright, "lack of verification does not
mean an individual is ineligible for financial assistance, but only that a
Marketplace did not receive sufficient information to verify eligibility in the
time period outlined in the law." (Id.) Federal law allows subsidy
payments on a temporary basis if a recipient’s citizenship or immigration
status is unclear. (Id.)
However, if the recipient is still unable to come up with documentation
proving his or her legal status, coverage is suspended and the IRS is supposed
to collect overpayments from the wrongly-covered individual. (Id.) The
Senate report dubbed this costly approach "pay and chase" and
predicted that, due to a lack of interagency coordination and planning, the IRS
will be unable to fully recoup the funds. (Id.)
http://www.fairus.org/legislative-updates/legislative-update-2-16-2016#1
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