Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said last week that data discrepancies could lead to unforeseen tax penalties for millions of people who applied for tax-subsidized health plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Data discrepancies were found in one in four applications for tax-subsidized private health insurance plans, which could affect eligibility and rates for at least two million people, Associated Press reports.
“A 25 percent error rate is simply unacceptable when it comes to proper use of scarce taxpayer dollars,” Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said. “Even worse, (the) announcement once again illustrates how the president’s bloated healthcare law has left American families and taxpayers in financial limbo. (The Department of Health and Human Services) has a duty to ensure information for these individuals and families is thoroughly verified before the 90-day window closes. Failure to do this could result in crushing tax bills for American families next April.”
Hatch recently joined Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to urge Obama administration officials to investigate reports that unwarranted subsides were paid out to as many as one million people under the ACA.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress in January that systems were in place to ensure subsidies were appropriately awarded, but Hatch, Coburn and McConnell questioned that claim.
“These reports call into serious question the veracity of the secretary’s certification that exchanges will accurately verify an applicant’s eligibility for subsidies before they were issued,” the senators said. “It seems highly unlikely that the secretary could accurately certify that systems were in place to verify the accuracy of applicant information, when in fact these systems had not been fully developed, tested and deployed.”