‘You lie!’ Outrage after whopping Obamacare price tag to cover illegal immigrants revealed

More than half a million people who were illegal immigrants or had questionable legal status received $750 million in ObamaCare subsidies, according to a new Senate report.

The report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and launched by committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., reviewed Affordable Care Act tax credits and found that more than 500,000 recipients were ineligible due to legal status, reported Fox News.

As of June 2015, the report said, “the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence.”

In what Sen. Johnson called a “pay and chase” method, the federal government temporarily allows payments for individuals with unclear legal status but is supposed to cut those funds if paperwork is not produced eventually. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pay the insurance companies on behalf of applicants and the IRS then has to “chase” after the payments once the ineligibility is discovered.

The Senate report said, “This ‘pay and chase’ model has potentially cost taxpayers approximately $750 million,” and accused the administration of failing to have a plan to recoup the funds, reported Fox.

“The information provided to the Committee by the IRS and HHS reveals a troubling lack of coordination between the two agencies … and demonstrates that the IRS and HHS neglected to consider how they would recover these wasteful payments,” the report said.

Even though the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed to FoxNews.com on Monday that 471,000 customers with 2015 coverage did not produce the required citizenship or immigration documentation in a timely manner, this did not necessarily mean they were ineligible.

The backlash on social media was immediate.

Many Twitter users pointed to their own health insurance struggles as credits are handed over so freely to ineligible recipients.

And many remembered Congressman Joe Wilson’s famous “You lie” outburst at Obama’s 2009 State of the Union speech.

 

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Frieda Powers

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Comments are closed.

Latest Articles