Republican Senator Tries to Force Obama Administration to Follow Obamacare

From the beginning of Obamacare’s implementation, President Obama’s signature legislation has been riddled with problems. Its latest problem ought to unite Republicans and Democrats in finding a solution.

Senator Ben Sasse’s office argues that taxpayers are not being prioritized in the way the Affordable Care Act mandates.

“The law requires the Secretary of [the Department of Health and Human Services] to deposit $5 billion total from 2014-2016 to Treasury through the reinsurance program. Rather than make those deposits to the Treasury, HHS has decided to prioritize payments to insurance companies.”

In other words, billions of dollars that the Affordable Care act requires be deposited into the U.S. Treasury has gone to insurance companies instead.

That’s why Sasse introduced the “Taxpayers Before Insurers Act” to make HHS follow the law—in this case, the Obama administration’s own Obamacare. If the law isn’t followed, Sasse’s legislation would slash HHS’s budget.

Sasse’s office says HHS’s current operation explicitly puts taxpayers last.

“Sasse received a response from HHS that explicitly said that taxpayers are third in line, behind insurance companies and HHS itself. The letter states: “CMS would allocate contributions that are collected first to the reinsurance payment pool and administrative expenses… Once those targets were met the remaining contributions collected for that benefit year would be allocated to the U.S. Treasury.”

Sasse says his legislation that would force Democrats to follow their own law—and to not put companies before taxpayers—ought to gain bipartisan support.

“I think this should be a bipartisan issue. I think it’s simple that taxpayers should come first. I think Joe Donnelly and Joe Manchin, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren should all agree with what we’re trying to do in this legislation. I think Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree that big insurance companies shouldn’t be prioritized before the taxpayers.”

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