Fictitious applicants were able to gain coverage from the federal health insurance marketplace and receive approximately $30,000 in subsidies over a 2-year period, according to a government watchdog agency.
Investigators with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted 18 undercover tests including submitting 12 applications to healthcare.gov via telephone or online. Almost all (11) were successful and were awarded subsidies totaling almost $30,000. Of those, seven applications were approved based on incomplete and false information, according to a July 15 GAO report.
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“While these subsidies, including those granted to GAO’s fictitious applicants, are paid to health care insurers, and not directly to enrolled consumers, they nevertheless represent a benefit to consumers and a cost to the government,” according to the report.
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the report July 16.
“That the administration failed to weed out fake applicants 1 year later is yet another shocking development that, unfortunately, continues the trend of Obamacare’s gross mismanagement at the expense of hardworking taxpayers,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Finance Committee, said in a statement. “Not only does this negligence enhance the likelihood for abuse of taxpayer dollars, but it also calls into question the legitimacy of the health law’s enrollment numbers and challenges the integrity of the website’s security checks.”
Click here to read the GAO report.
dfulton@frontlinemedcom.com
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