As #RateShock Sweeps the Nation, E&C Leaders Seek Answers On Obamacare Subsidies

WASHINGTON, DC – House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Health Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Pitts (R-PA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) today sent a letter to CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt requesting information on the amount of federal dollars being spent to subsidize Obamacare’s rising premiums.

The request comes after an exchange during a September 2016 joint subcommittee hearing examining Obamacare, which followed up on a December 2015 hearing examining the health law’s state insurance marketplaces.

“In your prepared remarks, you stated that premiums charged by exchange health plans are lower than the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) initial projections,” wrote Upton, Murphy, and Pitts. “Citing a study conducted by scholars at the Brookings Institution, you stated that ‘Marketplace premiums are currently 12 percent to 20 percent lower than CBO predicted when the Affordable Care Act was enacted.’ It is important to note that CBO’s 2010 enrollment projections were skewed, estimating that 21 million individuals would enroll in 2016. In reality, effectuated enrollment for the first half of 2016 was 10.4 million – roughly half of CBO’s earlier projection. Regardless of CBO’s initial projections, premiums for PPACA-compliant plans continue to rise.”

The leaders continued, “Approximately 84 percent – over eight out of every ten patients – who purchase health coverage on the PPACA exchanges qualify for federal tax credits that lower their monthly premiums. … While the Administration continues to focus on premium ‘affordability,’ it ignores the undeniable fact that federal taxpayers are subsidizing these premium increases through tax credits. The Committee is concerned that the federal taxpayer continues to bear the burden of subsidizing the growing cost of health care insurance.”

Click HERE to read a copy of the letter.

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