House Republicans seeking IRS response on health law subsidies

Prominent GOP committee chairmen are looking for documents that could affect the Internal Revenue Service rule about subsidies on the federal health insurance exchanges.

CQ HealthBeat: House Panels Seek More Information On Health Care Subsidies Rule
Republican leaders of two House committees are seeking unredacted versions of documents related to an IRS rule that they say is inconsistent with language of the 2010 health care law ... Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan, the panel's Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany Jr. of Louisiana, and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa of California said the Treasury Department agreed to a private review of internal documents after meetings between their staffs. Both committees had previously requested information related to the rule, which addresses the law's subsidies to help eligible individuals buy insurance through exchanges beginning in 2014 (Attias, 12/17).

The Hill: House GOP Seeks More Documents In Probe Of Health Law's Subsidies
The healthcare law provides subsidies for most people who buy insurance through a new insurance exchange. The law envisioned each state operating its own exchange, but authorized a federally-run fallback in states that don't act. The statute refers to subsidies flowing through a "state exchange" -; which, to the law's critics, means subsidies shouldn't be available in the federal exchange. The IRS has said it determined that Congress intended for subsidies to be available in both state- and federally-run marketplaces, but Republicans have pressed the tax agency to back up that assertion (Baker, 12/17).