On Friday, four Republican senators introduced a bill that would prevent the Obama administration from paying certain insurers in what they say amounts to a “bailout” of Obamacare.
Sens. Ben Sasse, Marco Rubio, John Barrasso, and Mike Lee wrote in a joint statement that their HHS Slush Fund Elimination Act would prevent the government from using “any…federal funds, to pay any final judgment, award or settlement compromise related to any lawsuits related to the [Affordable Care Act]’s risk programs.”
“The American people are paying too much for health insurance already, and they shouldn’t be forced to fork over even more of their paychecks to corporations that embraced a flawed health care law,” Rubio said.
“This legislation would stop the administration from squandering taxpayer dollars and help clear the way for real reform that makes health care more affordable for workers and families,” he continued.
Virginia representative Morgan Griffith introduced a House version of the bill.
The legislation is the latest in a long series of issues surrounding Obamacare’s risk corridor program, which was supposed to protect insurers from heavy losses in the early stages of the law. The program was designed to collect funds from Obamacare-compliant insurance plans with lower than expected claims and pay out money to plans with higher than expected claims. However, the government took in less money that it expected, which then contributed to rising premiums and insurer dropouts from Obamacare.
That was when the Washington Post reported in September about the Justice Department’s attempt to tap into its Judgment Fund after several companies sued for reimbursement. But the same senators then pointed to a Congressional Research Service report from January stating that the Fund did “not appear to be available to pay for such judgments under current law.
The Justice Department tried to dismiss some of those lawsuits in October, arguing that the government did not need to pay them. And some Republicans tried to investigate—or even sue—those involved in order to prevent any illegal settlements from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Hill noted on Friday, however, that “it remains unclear whether the administration will even try to settle before it leaves office.”
