Hultgren Supports Creating Inspector General to Oversee Obamacare

U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) has cosponsored legislation (H.R. 4158) that creates a Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA (SIGMA). This legislation would save taxpayer dollars and root out fraud, waste and abuse in President Obama’s healthcare law.

“The rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a disaster, from botched national and state websites to a myriad of missed deadlines, reduced worker hours and cancelled insurance plans,” said Rep. Hultgren. “Now more than ever, the American people need a watchdog investigator to hold this massive program accountable and ensure a complete and truthful accounting of the ACA."

Previous Special Inspectors General have been extremely effective, such as the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP). SIGTARP saved taxpayers $500 million, led to 122 criminal convictions and produced $4.7 billion in fines and other penalties for the taxpayer and other victims.

The SIGMA Act would:

• Create the only position in the federal government that is responsible for comprehensively inspecting all aspects of the ACA’s implementation, including the role of federal departments and agencies, along with contractors, state governments and the White House. 
• Require the SIGMA to issue quarterly reports and audits about the ACA, including the actions of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, the ACA’s missed implementation deadlines, improper government payments and impact on healthcare costs and health care providers.
• Provide SIGMA with the same law enforcement authority and investigative powers as standing Inspectors General, including subpoena and audit powers that could require the Obama Administration to account for the law.

Rep. Hultgren also cosponsored H.R. 942, the Ensuring Access to Quality Complex Rehabilitation Technology Act of 2013. This legislation creates a separate benefit category under Medicare for individuals who need access to complex rehabilitation technologies. This would help Medicare better serve individuals with chronic medical conditions, such as muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig’s disease, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.