Friday, September 30, 2016

Obama administration may use obscure fund to pay billions to ACA insurers

Washington Post ^ | Sept 29, 2016 | Amy Goldstein 

The Obama administration is maneuvering to pay health insurers billions of dollars the government owes under the Affordable Care Act, through a move that could circumvent Congress and help shore up the president’s signature legislative achievement before he leaves office.

Justice Department officials have privately told several health plans suing over the unpaid money that they are eager to negotiate a broad settlement, which could end up offering payments to about 175 health plans selling coverage on ACA marketplaces, according to insurance executives and lawyers familiar with the talks.

The payments most likely would draw from an obscure Treasury Department fund intended to cover federal legal claims, the executives and lawyers said. This approach would get around a recent congressional ban on the use of Health and Human Services money to pay the insurers.
...A settlement probably would rely on Treasury’s Judgment Fund, a 1950s creation that is allowed as much money as it needs to satisfy valid claims against the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...

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