Over 470,000 people who did not provide valid citizenship were somehow granted Obamacare subsidies by the government. Sen. Ron Johnson detailed the misused tax dollars in a Feb. 8 report, which concluded that the government offered $750 million in tax credits to undocumented citizens. The report appears to contradict President Obama’s 2009 pledge to not offer any tax credits to those who are in the United States illegally.
Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) is asking the Obama administration to promptly recover this money. She sent a letter with her demands to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell:"I would like to know what is being done to rectify this situation and how you would intend to recapture the money that has been issued in error. I would also like to know how the 'pay and chase' protocol, a system that is well-known to be broken, has become an Administration-supported part of 'statutory guidelines,'" Black, a 40-year veteran of the healthcare industry, wrote in the letter sent Thursday.
The Tennessee congresswoman gave Burwell one month to respond.
Black has been an Obamacare foe since its inception. She knows how hard the health care bill has hit small businesses in her state. On the House floor in December, she shared a personal story about a deli owner who lost sleep over the bill's burdensome regulations before being forced to close the restaurant.
How painful it must be for that entrepreneur to hear that, not only did the president's health legislation contribute to his business' demise, but the administration is awarding illegals.
The HHS and the IRS better get their act together. Those dollars belong to American citizens.