HHS Slush Fund Elimination Act

HHS Slush Fund Elimination Act

This bill prohibits federal funds, including funds appropriated from the Judgment Fund, from being used to pay any final judgment, award, or compromise settlement relating to the transitional reinsurance program or the risk corridor program established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

(The Judgment Fund is a permanent and indefinite appropriation to pay judgments against the United States, including awards, compromise settlements, and related interest and costs. Under the risk corridor program, qualified health plans offered in the individual or small group markets participate in a payment adjustment system based on the ratio of the allowable costs of the plan to the plan's aggregate premiums. Under the transitional reinsurance program, health insurance issuers and certain group health plans make contributions to the program, and reinsurance payments are made to issuers for enrollees in certain individual market plans with claim costs within a specified level.)

The bill includes an exception that requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay any final judgment, award, or compromise settlement relating to the two programs from funds appropriated to HHS under provisions of the risk corridor program that require certain health plans with lower costs to make payments to HHS.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3481 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3481

  To address payment for claims relating to certain provisions of the 
              Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 17, 2016

     Mr. Sasse (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Barrasso, and Mr. Lee) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To address payment for claims relating to certain provisions of the 
              Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``HHS Slush Fund Elimination Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Congress, as demonstrated in the Consolidated and 
        Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113-
        235; 128 Stat. 2130) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
        2016 (Public Law 114-113; 129 Stat. 2242), does not support the 
        use of taxpayer funding for payments made under the risk 
        corridor program under section 1342 of the Patient Protection 
        and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18062);
            (2) on September 9, 2016, the Department of Health and 
        Human Services issued a memo that encouraged the settlement of 
        civil actions relating to the risk corridor program;
            (3) a 1998 legal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel 
        states ``The Judgment Fund does not become available simply 
        because an agency may have insufficient funds at a particular 
        time to pay a judgment'';
            (4) the Congressional Research Service has concluded that 
        ``the Judgment Fund would not appear to be available to pay for 
        such judgments under current law''; and
            (5) Congress wants to prohibit the Department of Health and 
        Human Services from illegally paying claims or settlements, 
        specifically through the Judgment Fund, to insurers for the 
        risk corridor program.

SEC. 3. JUDGMENTS, AWARDS, AND COMPROMISE SETTLEMENTS.

    (a) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered provision'' 
means section 1341 or 1342 of the Patient Protection and Affordable 
Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18061 and 18062).
    (b) Payments.--Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, United 
States Code, or any other provision of law--
            (1) except as provided in paragraph (2), no Federal funds, 
        including amounts appropriated under such section 1304, may be 
        used to pay any final judgment, award, or compromise settlement 
        relating to a covered provision (including interest and costs); 
        and
            (2) amounts owed by the United States Government for a 
        final judgment, award, or compromise settlement relating to a 
        covered provision (including interest and costs) shall be paid 
        from amounts appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services under section 1342(b)(2) of the Patient Protection and 
        Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18062(b)(2)).
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