House GOP lawmakers expressed frustration over a new investigation showing people were able to set up fraudulent accounts under Obamacare, during a hearing on Wednesday.
The hearing was designed by Republicans to highlight flaws in the Affordable Care Act just before the law’s fourth enrollment season.
The panel comes a day after Republicans released an extensive report on the marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act, highlighting federal money wasted on them and the five marketplaces that have shuttered.
The report also discusses several reports by government watchdogs that were able to set up fraudulent accounts in the marketplaces, raising questions about whether oversight is sufficient.
“We are deeply troubled by the findings of this investigation,” said Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee.
Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and two officials with the Government Accountability Office and the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, testified before the committee.
Leading Democrats blasted the method used by the GAO, which had employees give fraudulent information to state marketplaces to see whether they could set up fake accounts and gain subsidies they weren’t eligible for.
Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., called the GAO report “ridiculous” and a “farce.”
“There is no possible scenario in which an individual could game the system,” Pallone said. “Even if someone were to gain insurance with fraudulent information, they would still have to pay premiums.”
