Rep. Allen Reintroduces Legislation to Hold State Exchanges Accountable

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 -- Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga. (12th CD), issued the following news release:

Today, Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.-12) reintroduced the Transparency and Accountability of Failed Exchanges Act, H.R. 640. This legislation protects American taxpayers from the failures of Obamacare by holding states that set up state exchanges accountable and provides clear steps to recover federal funds when the exchanges fail.

When the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was signed into law, the President freely gave money away to states to establish state exchanges. However, the Administration provided no solution for recovering these funds when the state exchanges failed. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent since. Exchanges in multiple states have failed, with other states on the verge of failure.

"Obamacare has been disastrous. From rising premiums to dwindling coverage and providers, it is clear this law and its makers were careless in its writing and implementation. The shortcomings of Obamacare should not be placed on the backs of American taxpayers. My legislation ensures the American people are not left with the further burden of repaying the debt when state exchanges fail."

H.R. 640 fixes the aforementioned problem by providing a plan to recover federal funds when state exchanges fail by:

* Ensuring states have kept records and properly reported how federal funds were spent by requiring states to submit records of expenses to Congress as well as the Department of Health and Human Services.

* Requiring all unused funds to be returned back to the Treasury Department for deficit reduction and any real property purchased returned to the General Services Administration.

Rep. Allen previously introduced this legislation in the 114th Congress. It was endorsed by Americans for Tax Reform, National Taxpayers Union, Council for Affordable Health Coverage and Citizens Against Government Waste.

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