House GOP probes alleged Obamacare broker fraud as Jordan presses major insurers for answers
Republicans in the House of Representatives want to know if some of the country’s largest Obamacare health insurance brokers are contributing to a dismal picture of fraud spurring the program's...
By Fox News · Fox News
Republicans in the House of Representatives want to know if some of the country’s largest Obamacare health insurance brokers are contributing to a dismal picture of fraud spurring the program's soaring costs. The House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent letters to Blue Shield of California, Centene Corporation, CVS Health, Elevance Health, Kaiser Permanente, Oscar Health Inc. and GuideWell on Monday, demanding detailed information on their enrollment services. SENATE MULLS NEXT STEPS AFTER DUELING OBAMACARE FIXES GO UP IN FLAMES All those companies help consumers sign up for Obamacare’s enhanced health insurance premiums that are at the heart of the committee’s fraud evaluations. "Brokers have targeted individuals with deceptive advertisements and pressured enrollees to lie about their incomes to obtain Obamacare subsidies. Evidence suggests that many individuals do not even know they are signing up for health insurance or agreeing to switch plans," the committee said in a statement. The committee has asked the companies to provide how many people they’ve helped sign up for the enhanced premium tax credits, the number of enrolled people who don’t make use of their benefits, internal communications dealing with fraud and abuse, and a list of employees dealing with anti-fraud efforts. SENATE DEMS' OBAMACARE FIX FAILS AS SENATE LOOKS FOR OFF-RAMP FROM HEALTHCARE CLIFF The Judiciary’s letters come as lawmakers wrestle with whether to extend Obamacare’s enhanced premium subsidies — even as questions about fraud and other inefficiencies remain — or to let them expire at the end of the year. Congress initially greatly widened Obamacare’s federal assistance in 2021 as an emergency response to COVID-19. Over 90% of Obamacare’s 24 million enrollees now make use of the expanded assistance, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Seto Bagdoyan, the director of audit services for the GAO, told Fox News Digital that under the expanded c…