GOP still reaching for any reason to stop so-called "Obamacare"

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Republicans tackle Obamacare as the clock ticks down
By Ashley Killough, September 14, 2013

With less than a month before open enrollment begins for Obamacare, Republicans again went after the president's signature health care law in their weekly address on Saturday.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, highlighted her bill, "No Subsidies Without Verification Act," which was passed by the House this week, -one of dozens of attempts by the GOP-controlled House to chisel away at the health care law.

The bill, however, has little chance of going anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

"This legislation stops the government from issuing health care subsidies until it has a system in place to prevent fraud. It's that simple," said Black, a registered nurse for 40 years.

What is she referring to?

Obamacare subsidies are essentially tax credits that help free up money for individuals to purchase health insurance. The lower a person's salary, the higher their subsidy will be.

Opponents of the health care law are frustrated by a rule change announced by the administration this summer. The new rule says that state insurance exchanges can relax how they verify the income of people who apply for the subsidies.

As CNNMoney's Jeanne Sahadi explains it, exchanges must still check the applicant's income against a federal database, which will include information from his or her federal tax returns and a record of Social Security benefits.

The exchanges will be looking for disparities between what the applicant says and what's in the database.

If it looks like someone is understating his or her income by more than 10%, and the exchange doesn't have other sources to quickly check against, the exchange may choose to rely on what the applicant says.

To prevent fraud, the IRS will check the person's actual income when he or she files their tax return that next April. Anyone who might get a bigger subsidy than they're eligible for will have to pay back the difference to the IRS.

But Black argued the Obama administration is relying on "the honor system" rather than a true verification system.

"You heard that right: instead of exercising common sense and accountability, the administration is willing to just give away your tax dollars – no questions asked," she said.

Read her full comments below:

Hi, I'm Diane Black, and I represent Tennessee's Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. What an honor it is to be speaking with you.

[snipped]
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