Issa pressing ahead in effort to obtain HHS materials on Medicare Advantage

Oct 20 2012

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is accusing HHS of not fully complying with repeated requests.

Politico Pro: Issa Planning To Issue HHS Subpoena
House oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa is planning to issue a subpoena to HHS demanding materials that he says could show that the administration is trying to cover up the health law's cuts to Medicare Advantage. ... Issa didn't specify when the subpoena would be issued, although Fox said it was expected Friday. ... The oversight committee says that the administration is covering up the health law's cuts to the Medicare Advantage program by replacing it with funding from a demonstration project (Haberkorn, 10/18).

Fox News (Video): Issa To Issue Subpoena Over ObamaCare Documents
The Department of Health and Human Services handed over reams of material just minutes before a 5 p.m. ET deadline Thursday in response to Issa's demand 24 hours earlier. However, Issa's office called the cache "embarrassing," insufficient and not responsive to the congressman's request. … [Issa] effectively is accusing the department of stringing them along for months in their request for documents about an $8 billion program that pays bonuses to Medicare Advantage plans (Berger and Pergram, 10/19).

CQ HealthBeat: Republicans On House Oversight Panel Threaten Subpoena Over Medicare Advantage Documents
At the July hearing, an official from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defended the demonstration and said that it rewards both attainment and improvement. GAO testified that it offsets 70 percent of the health care law's reduced payments to Medicare Advantage this year (Attias, 10/18).

In other news, the Congressional Research Service issues a new report -

The Hill: Study Shows 33 Percent Spending Increase In Federal Poverty Programs
A new study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service finds that federal spending on anti-poverty programs has increased 33 percent since 2008, when President Obama was elected. The study, commissioned by Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), included traditional welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, Pell grants and 80 other federal programs but excluded veterans assistance programs. … The CRS study shows that broadly defined, anti-poverty spending was higher than Social Security or Medicare or base defense spending in 2011 (Wasson, 10/18).