House Republicans say that the Obama administration is disregarding subpoenas for documents that contain information on allegedly illegal spending related to the Affordable Care Act.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington ruled that two key provisions of the ACA violate the Constitution as they involve unapproved expenses.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) wrote a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday, demanding the department to comply with the requests for documents.
Both committees issued the subpoenas March 29, but Republicans said that they have only received one heavily redacted page from the HHS, reported
thehill.com.
“Your refusal to provide the requested documents and information raises serious concerns about the Department’s willingness to be accountable for the lawful execution of laws passed by Congress,” the letter said to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
The GOP has concerns over the ACA initiative called the Basic Health Program, an optional health insurance program for states aimed at providing options for low-income individuals whose incomes are marginally high enough to render them ineligible for Medicaid. Through the program, the federal government offers funding to help states make other insurance options more affordable and accessible.
According to the GOP, the Obama administration was paying out through the program despite Congress not appropriating the funding. The administration argued that that it has a permanent appropriation under the ACA section covering the law’s tax credits, but Republicans countered that the permanent appropriation was strictly only for tax credits, not for the Basic health Program.
The chairmen asked for the spending documents July last year after assistant HHS secretary Ellen Murray referenced them during a briefing. In November, HHS produced 24 pages of documents, with some parts redacted. In March, the department informed the committees that it would not provide any additional documents. The committees issued a subpoena later that month, but they only received one heavily redacted page since.
“The pattern of conduct to this point suggests that the Department intends to frustrate our legitimate efforts to conduct oversight of the Basic Health Program,” the chairmen wrote in the letter.
"The Department is committed to providing substantive answers to Congress’s questions regarding our implementation of the Basic Health Program, as evidenced by the fact that the Department sent a senior administration official to brief the Committees and provided substantive documents and written responses to Congress on this matter," remarked HHS spokesman Matt Inzeo in response to the letter.
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