“We’ve been trying to get answers since last June, but HHS simply will not cooperate. The administration funneled $1.3 billion last year into the Basic Health Program without a congressional appropriation — a clear violation of the law. Our good faith attempts to learn basic and targeted facts have been met with resistance every step of the way. The American public deserves answers now,” House Energy and Commerce Comittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said in a press release.
The Basic Health Program was created under the Affordable Care Act as an option for states to provide health coverage for low-income residents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, CHIP or other minimum essential coverage. States that participate the program receive federal funding for 95 percent of the premium tax credits and cost sharing reductions that would have been provided if the individuals participating in the program bought coverage on the federal marketplace. New York and Minnesota are the only states that are using the Basic Health Program.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and HHS previously said the program is fully funded under the ACA, but the committees “remain deeply concerned” about the decision to fund the BHP without a Congressional appropriation.
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