Lankford: Court Ruling Affirms Congress Writes The Law, Not Obama
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2014
Lankford: DC Circuit decision affirms Congress writes laws, not the Administration
Washington—Representative James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements, expressed support today for the D.C. Circuit Court’s 2-1 decision in Halbig v. Burwell. The decision, if upheld, strikes down an IRS policy change that allowed Obamacare health insurance subsidies in states with state-run exchanges, despite the Affordable Care Act only allowing federal subsidies through state-run exchanges, not in the 36 states that chose partial participation in the marketplace or none at all.
Following this morning’s decision, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled unanimously exactly opposite to the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, which will likely lead to a Supreme Court case soon.
“Today’s D.C. Circuit Court decision should remind this President and his Administration that Congress writes the laws, not the Executive Branch,” said Lankford.
“In July 2013 Oklahoma’s Attorney General Scott Pruitt testified before the House Oversight Subcommittee I chair to vocalize state concerns with IRS’s potentially unlawful action regarding state subsidies. The Obama Administration’s rewrite of the law has introduced even greater uncertainty into the health insurance market and may lead to higher premiums in 2015 and beyond as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in unauthorized federal spending. IRS’s unilateral policy change did not pass the ‘smell test’ then, and things haven’t exactly improved at the scandal-plagued IRS since then.
“The Health Care Compact resolution I offered in February would empower states to run our currently mismanaged federal healthcare programs. Under the Compact providers and state officials could meet face-to-face to ensure patients receive quality care and providers are paid quickly and fairly for their services. I look forward to consideration of the Health Care Compact, which would offer states a solution to get out of the federal healthcare mess, which is getting messier by the day. Americans want real solutions immediately, not just political spin.
“I will continue to work toward solutions that provide low- and middle-income families impacted by this potentially unlawful IRS rule with access to quality healthcare options without Washington’s unaffordable, complicated and excessive rules and regulations that detract from patient care,” concluded Lankford.
Created in the Affordable Care Act, Section 36B of the U.S. tax code only authorizes tax credits and subsidies to individuals in states participating in state-run exchanges. However, effectively rewriting the law, Treasury and IRS have now authorized the provision of tax credits and subsidies in federal exchanges as well. Treasury officials could not point to a single instance of legislative history to support their interpretation or documentation of thorough, corresponding legal analysis prior to implementation of the change.
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