HHS: New Obamacare Regulators “Essential”
In case you hadn’t seen it, the Department of Health and Human Services posted their contingency operations plan in the event of a lapse in appropriations funding. Page 2 of the document includes this paragraph:
Operations of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight could continue as funding was provided through the Affordable Care Act. This includes insurance rate reviews, assessment of a portion of insurance premiums that are used on medical services, establishment of exchanges, operation of the pre-existing condition insurance program and the early retiree reinsurance program.
Because the health care law provided a $1 billion mandatory appropriation for an implementation “slush fund,” the new bureaucrats within HHS can be exempted from furlough, as HHS draws down the $1 billion in mandatory funding to continue their work, even if discretionary appropriations lapse. That means that, even as national parks close and tax refunds get delayed, HHS bureaucrats will be writing and implementing regulations that will raise premiums and lead to half of all businesses losing their current coverage within two years. Your tax dollars at work…