Insurers are entitled to subsidies regardless of what Congress has appropriated?
August 14, 2017
If you are one of those hidebound individuals who believe that the distribution of taxpayer funds from the U.S. Treasury is a congressional prerogative clearly delineated in Article I of the Constitution, Judge Thomas C. Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has some bad news for you. Wheeler has handed down summary judgments ordering the government to pay two separate insurers a total of $266 million that Congress has declined to appropriate. He awarded Moda Health $214 million in February and, two weeks ago, he awarded $52 million to Molina Healthcare pursuant to Obamacare’s unfunded “risk corridor” program.
Upon what authority does Judge Wheeler order the U.S. government to pay insurers taxpayer money that Congress hasn’t appropriated? Well, his reasoning is somewhat circular. In his recent ruling in favor of Molina Healthcare, the primary precedent he cites is his own ruling in Moda Health Plan, Inc. v. The United States. This is, as it happens, not as surprising as it first appears. Wheeler is the only judge to find for the plaintiffs in any of the two dozen or so lawsuits that Obamacare insurers have brought pursuant to the risk corridor program. Several others have already been dismissed, including two by judges on the same court.............To Read More....
My Take - You may wish to read my
Book Review: Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America, by Mark R. Levin.
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