WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell commented today after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG) issued a report highlighting the Obama administration’s inability to ensure safeguards are in place to protect taxpayers by preventing the payment of improper Obamacare subsidies:

“From today’s reports, it appears that then-HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided a misleading certification to Congress earlier this year that the Obamacare exchanges could and would verify that individuals receiving tax credits and cost-sharing assistance are actually eligible to receive these taxpayer-provided subsidies.

“Specifically, the reports found that a number of the controls in place to protect taxpayers were ineffective and that HHS was unable to resolve 2.6 million of 2.9 million verification inconsistencies because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) eligibility system was not fully operational. It now appears that the Administration’s promises to protect taxpayers from wasteful and fraudulent payments will join ‘if you like your plan, you can keep it’ and lower premiums as just the latest in a string of Obamacare’s broken promises.

“This report is one more example of just how flawed the President’s health care law is. Whatever one’s opinion of Obamacare, the American public deserves to know that their tax dollars are allocated appropriately and that public officials take their responsibility to accurately and faithfully apply the laws enacted by Congress seriously.”

Background: In May, Senate Republican Leader McConnell, along with Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), wrote the HHS IG to urge that he carefully examine recent reports that the government may be paying incorrect Obamacare subsidies. Sebelius had certified to Congress in January that the exchanges could confirm that subsidy applicants are eligible to receive the benefits, and she detailed a number of measures that were supposed to be in place to protect the taxpayer. Congress passed a law that required the HHS IG to issue a report by July 1, 2014, evaluating the effectiveness of safeguards to prevent improper payments. Read the letter here.

Read the reports:

• Not All Internal Controls Implemented by the Federal, California, and Connecticut Marketplaces Were Effective in Ensuring That Individuals Were Enrolled in Qualified Health Plans According to Federal Requirements
• Marketplaces Faced Early Challenges Resolving Inconsistencies With Applicant Data
• Letters to Congress