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CHARLOTTE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch have joined Congressman Robert Pittenger’s effort to block the Obama Administration’s backdoor bailout of Obamacare.

In an October 18th letter to Bureau of the Fiscal Service Commissioner Sheryl Morrow, Senators McConnell and Hatch write, “On September 9, 2016, HHS issued a memo on risk corridors payments for 2015, which indicated that HHS was aware of the lawsuits filed against the federal government, and encouraged ‘discussing [a] resolution to those claims.’ Subsequent published reports have stated that ‘The Obama administration is maneuvering to pay health insurers billions of dollars the government owes under the Affordable Care Act, through a move that could circumvent Congress.’ These same reports indicate that the Administration may be inclined to try to settle those lawsuits through payments from the Judgment Fund. We are deeply concerned about this attempt to circumvent the clear, unmistakable will of the Congress.”

The October 18th letter by Senators McConnell and Hatch follows a September 22nd warning letter from Congressman Pittenger to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell emphasizing the full commitment of Congress to stop any potential backdoor bailout for insurance companies that lost money through Obamacare.

Congressman Pittenger’s letter was co-signed by 45 Members of Congress, including 3 Committee Chairs and 22 Subcommittee Chairs. Following Congressman Pittenger’s letter, Speaker Ryan announced on October 14th that the U.S. House of Representatives filed an amicus brief in an existing risk corridor lawsuit which sets forth why insurance companies are not entitled to an Obamacare bailout, and explaining why the Obama Administration’s attempt to settle these claims with taxpayer dollars subverts both the law and U.S. Constitution.

· Read the McConnell-Hatch letter here: http://bit.ly/2eRuQej

· Read Congressman Pittenger’s letter to Secretary Burwell here: http://bit.ly/2dBTpY9

· Read the U.S. House of Representatives amicus brief here: http://bit.ly/2dSVggO

· Read the Obama Administration memo here: http://go.cms.gov/2e7i8UN