ADVISORY: Oversight, Ways and Means Seek Answers on IRS Obamacare Rule

Oversight Subcommittee to Hold Hearing Next Week

WASHINGTON – Leaders on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Ways and Means sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew yesterday seeking more information on the Administration’s decision to extend Obamacare’s premium tax credits to individuals enrolled in federal health insurance exchanges, which appears to violate the plain text of the health care law. The IRS rule will be the topic of an Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care hearing to be held next Wednesday, July 31, entitled, “Oversight of IRS’s Legal Basis for Expanding ObamaCare’s Taxes and Subsidies.”

“Although IRS’s rule has significant implications for individuals and the nation’s finances, IRS and Treasury have not been able to provide the Committees with detailed information about the factors considered by IRS and Treasury that expanded the availability of PPACA’s tax credits to federal exchanges,” the letter states.

The letter is signed by Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Subcommittee Chairmen James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Charles Boustany Jr., M.D. (R-La.). The Committees have inquired about the IRS rule since August 2012, with additional inquiries sent in October 2012, December 2012, and January 2013.

The Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care hearing, chaired by Rep. Lankford, will examine the legal basis for the IRS and Treasury rule, as well as the rule’s impact on individuals, employers and states. Legal experts at the Congressional Research Service have stated that the IRS rule seems to go against the health law and is “contradictory to clear congressional intent.” The rule, which adds hundreds of billions of dollars in new and unauthorized federal spending, is currently the subject of two lawsuits challenging its legality. Individuals involved in the legal challenges will be among the hearing witnesses.

Hearing Details:

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

“Oversight of IRS’s Legal Basis for Expanding ObamaCare’s Taxes and Subsides”

Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements, Chairman James Lankford (R-OK)

10:15 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building

Witnesses:

Jonathan Adler, J.D.

Professor of Law

Case Western Reserve University

Scott Pruitt

Attorney General

State of Oklahoma

Charles Willey, M.D.

CEO Innovare Health Advocates Inc.

Emily McMahon

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy

Department of Treasury