Coats Introduces The RECOUP Act, Legislation to Recover Additional Fraudulent Obamacare Payments

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), the Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, today introduced the Recovering Erroneous Credits from Outlaws and Unlawful Persons (RECOUP) Act, legislation to address fraudulent Obamacare subsidy payments.

“The Obama Administration is intent on convincing taxpayers that Obamacare is working. Yet, time and time again, it fails to acknowledge the numerous issues with the president’s health plan in order to mask Obamacare’s problems,” said Coats. “One glaring example is how the Obama Administration has approved countless payments for those who are ineligible to receive them in the first place. The RECOUP Act would address fraudulent subsidy payment for those who are incarcerated or in our country illegally so that U.S. taxpayer dollars can be rightly refunded.”

Under current law, if households or individuals receive more in Obamacare subsidies than they actually qualify for, there are limits on the amount they must repay. This means that repayment could be well under the amount of taxpayers’ dollars paid out in subsidies. The RECOUP Act would repeal this cap for those who are in the United States illegally or incarcerated.

Federal regulations state that those incarcerated are ineligible to sign up for these advanced tax credits at the time of enrollment. However, the regulations currently do not disqualify incarcerated individuals from receiving the credit, during the period of incarceration, as long as they were not incarcerated at the time of enrollment. The Coats legislation would clarify that persons incarcerated are ineligible for the refundable credit for health coverage during the time they are incarcerated. 

Coats addressed this issue as one of his Waste of the Week initiatives earlier this year by highlighting how the Obama Administration was not verifying the eligibility for these tax credits. Click here to watch his floor speech.

Coats is joined by Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) as an original sponsor of this legislation.