Sen. Chuck Grassley made the following comment on President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2017 budget released today.
“The President says his proposal is about looking forward but it looks like a repeat of the past. This proposed budget is more of the same of what we’ve seen from the Obama Administration on more spending, more taxes, more regulations and no attempt to balance the books. It includes a tax of $10 per barrel of oil that likely would raise the cost to consumers at the pump by as much as 24 cents per gallon. Everybody expects oil companies would pass that cost right along to consumers. That’s the sort of idea that’s dead on arrival in Congress, where we rightly hear from our constituents that their money does more good in the general economy than with the federal government. When the President’s proposal does cut spending, it targets areas like crop insurance that hurt rural America. It’s penny wise and pound foolish to cut a program that helps farmers manage the food supply on which the country and the world depend. The budget also proposes cutting Medicare payments to critical access hospitals. That doesn’t make a lot of sense for the health care of the people in the affected rural communities.”
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Hatch, Grassley Press CMS on Obamacare Tax Credits after Internal Watchdog’s Recommendations Ignored In December Report, HHS OIG Found Federal Funds at Risk
WASHINGTON – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt requesting information on why the agency failed to fully implement two key recommendations made by an internal watchdog regarding Obamacare tax credits. In December, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) found CMS could not certify Obamacare tax credits were only being awarded to individuals who had paid their premiums, leaving federal taxpayer dollars at risk. The OIG made two recommendations to improve the integrity of the tax credit payment system.
“HHS OIG first recommended that CMS ‘establish policies and procedures to calculate advance premium tax credit (APTC) payments without relying solely on qualified health plan (QHP) issuers’ attestations, including QHP assurances, that enrollees have paid their premiums,’”[1]the Chairmen wrote. “Second, HHS OIG recommended that CMS share more APTC payment data with the IRS in order to allow IRS to ‘verify the data reported on each individual’s Form 1095-A.’”
In the letter, Hatch and Grassley outline how CMS’s implementation of the OIG’s recommendations fell short, saying CMS did not fully respond to the first recommendation and ignored the watchdog’s second recommendation in its entirety.
“It is important to take every reasonable step to protect the taxpayer from waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Chairmen continued.
The letter follows correspondence to CMS from Chairmen Hatch and Grassley in June 2015 on APTC integrity. CMS responded to the Chairmen in July 2015, but failed to provide meaningful information on how the agency planned to curb potential fraud.
The full text of the letter is available here.
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Grassley: U.S. Air Force Academy Selects Waukee Student
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said today that Justin Nathaniel Ashley of Waukee has received an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the 2016-2017 school year.
Ashley is the son of Lisa and Lt. Colonel Ken Ashley. Ashley will graduate in May from Dallas Center-Grimes High School. He has participated in the student council, football, track and Key Club and is a member of the National Honor Society. He is a member of his church youth group, is a local fundraising event founder and director with the Wounded Warrior Project, and a supply manager for Meals from the Heartland. Ashley has served as a youth delegate to the Dallas County Republican Convention. He also participates in running, trail biking, fly fishing, and skiing.
“Students work very hard to earn this kind of opportunity. Admission to the service academies is highly competitive and a great honor,” Grassley said. “I wish Justin well and thank him for his commitment to serve our nation.”
Ashley was among the 41 Iowans Grassley nominated this year for appointments to the U.S. service academies. Upon receiving an appointment, the student then decides whether to attend the academy. Information about seeking nominations can be found on Grassley’s website.
For more than 200 years, these academies have educated and trained individuals to lead and command the U.S. armed forces.
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