Posted by Michael Wonder on 19 Oct 2016
Trouble on the exchanges - does the United States owe billions to health insurers?
19 October 2016 - Yet another bruising fight has erupted over health care reform.
On September 9, 2016, the Obama administration offered to open settlement negotiations with health insurers that have sued the United States to recover billions of dollars that they claim they are owed. Congressional Republicans are incensed, believing that any settlement would illegally squander taxpayer dollars in a last-gasp effort to save the Affordable Care Act.
As with many disputes over health care reform, the partisan squabbling has elevated an obscure legal question to public attention. The unfortunate result, however, is that careful legal analysis can get lost in the din. Are insurers in fact entitled to the risk-corridor money that they believe they are owed? If so, does the administration have the legal authority to pay them? As it happens, the law offers reasonably clear answers to both questions.
