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As ObamaCare Bailout Possibility Grows, Rubio Calls For Repeal Of Bailout Program

May 1, 2015 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s new report that ObamaCare’s risk corridor program is “significantly underfunded”:

“This report confirms, once again, that ObamaCare is not working the way it was sold and the so-called risk corridor provision must go,” said Rubio. “Taxpayers should not have to fund bailouts to protect the profits of the insurance companies that helped write ObamaCare. The legislation I’ve introduced will protect Americans from yet another corporate bailout that puts them on the hook for Washington’s mistakes.”

In January, Rubio introduced “The ObamaCare Taxpayer Bailout Prevention Act,” a bill that would eliminate the provision of ObamaCare that allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts of insurance companies at the Obama Administration’s sole discretion.

The bill would repeal section 1342 of ObamaCare, which establishes a risk corridor program to distribute money from exchange plans that earned profits to exchange plans that suffered losses. However, the risk corridor program was not designed to be budget neutral, and section 1342 of ObamaCare puts the American taxpayer at risk of a taxpayer bailout if insurers systematically lose money on exchange plans. By repealing Section 1342, the legislation would force the administration to come back to Congress to request appropriations to cover any losses in the program.