U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer has ruled the federal government
has been unconstitutionally paying out certain Obamacare
subsidies/reimbursements, which House Republicans sued to stop.
The lawsuit, filed in July 2014, argues the Obama administration is illegally spending money that was never allocated by Congress.
At
issue was a $175 million program authorizing payments to insurers that
Republicans claimed were not appropriated by Congress. On the question
of whether the money could be distributed anyway under another program,
Collyer wrote in her opinion: “It cannot.”
“None of the
Secretaries’ extra-textual arguments – whether based on economics,
'unintended' results, or legislative history – is persuasive,” she
wrote. “The Court will enter judgment in favor of the House of
Representatives and enjoin the use of unappropriated monies to fund
reimbursements due to insurers” under that section.
Collyer said the law is "clear," and money was not allocated for that program.
She then said she would stay the injunction, giving the administration a chance to appeal.
The
controversial payments to insurers were meant to reimburse them over a
decade to reduce co-payments for lower-income people.
No comments:
Post a Comment