Senate panel probes ObamaCare aid confusion, as customers learn they owe IRS

The Senate’s top investigative committee has launched an inquiry into the system that’s supposed to ensure ObamaCare tax credits go to the right customers for the right amounts — amid concerns that many Americans are getting inflated or improper subsidies.

 

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is leading the investigation, says because of the confusion with the system, millions of Americans are learning after the fact they inadvertently got too much money and now owe the IRS hundreds.

 

“I’m concerned that the subsidy eligibility process is so complicated that many consumers believed they were receiving cheaper insurance coverage than they ultimately got,” Portman said in a statement.

 

Portman, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced his panel’s investigation in a letter sent Thursday to HHS Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell. “I have repeatedly raised questions regarding efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services to prevent improper payments through the exchanges,” he wrote, saying his prior inquiries were insufficiently answered.

 

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