In direct violation of the clear statutory text and a decade of legal interpretation (including during the Obama Administration), President Biden has unilaterally rewritten the eligibility rules for Obamacare, reframing the intent of the law as a “glitch.” 

Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health Republican Leader Rep. Vern Buchanan’s (R-FL) resolution of inquiry seeks records of how the White House  is justifying violating a decade of legal implementation of the law.

KEY BACKGROUND:

The Biden Administration is Attempting to Unilaterally Alter Obamacare.

• Obamacare’s legislative text makes clear that employees with affordable coverage (as defined in the law) should not receive federal subsidies to cover dependents. 
• The Obama Administration determined that it lacked the authority to expand eligibility for subsidies, which is consistent with both the statutory text and the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) analysis of the law.
• Along with the Obama Treasury Department, 51 congressional Democrats agreed that Congress must legislate in order to change eligibility rules. 

READ: Fact Check: Nine Misleading Claims in President Biden’s Inflation Denial

The Biden Administration’s Effort To Rewrite Obamacare Without Congress Shows Democrats Know It’s Broken.

• Instead of working across the aisle to address Obamacare’s shortcomings and truly lower the cost of health care, the Biden Administration has chosen to go it alone, instead fueling higher premiums with increased and expanded subsidies.
• Now President Biden wants to illegally spend $45 billion in taxpayer funds and change the enacted law through executive order.

The Biden Administration’s Changes Will Do Nothing to Address High Health Care Costs.

• The average price paid for health insurance (“premiums”) jumped by 143 percent between 2013 and 2019.
• At the same time that premiums more than doubled in the individual market, deductibles for Obamacare-compliant coverage also increased by an average of 35 percent — over $1,700 for individuals and $3,600 for families.
• Over 10 years, spending on health care per person increased by 28.7 percent.

There Is a Better Way To Address High Health Care Costs.

• Republicans have laid out approaches to addressing the worst impacts of Democrats’ broken health care law here.

READ: Brady, Crapo: White House is Illegally Rewriting Obamacare

About Resolutions of Inquiry: 

A Resolution of Inquiry (ROI) is a direct request or demand of the President or the head of an executive department to furnish the House with specific factual information in the Administration’s possession. ROIs become privileged on the floor if not reported to the House within 14 legislative days after filing.

Democrats effectively turned off the ability to use an ROI via a pandemic-related rule passed in the last Congress. That rule was continually extended until late July of this year when the majority finally turned on the ROI tool.