$3 billion fund lacks real safeguards to protect against waste, fraud and abuse  

Washington, D.C.— House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy Rodgers (R-WA), House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Mike Crapo (R-ID) are requesting detailed information from top government health officials regarding the $3 billion drug price-setting implementation fund included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

In a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Brooks-LaSure, the members note the partisan IRA directs a “baffling $3 billion to the implementation of misguided price controls,” but provides no reporting requirements or other safeguards with respect to the implementation funding. Without oversight, the $3 billion fund will likely result in wasteful government expansion and bureaucratic bloat, raising program integrity, deficit reduction and good governance concerns. 

From the letter:  

We write to request information and regular updates on how the Biden Administration plans to allocate, apply, and monitor this staggering sum moving forward. By sidestepping regular order and bypassing the standard appropriations process, proponents of the IRA set aside billions in taxpayer dollars with no reporting requirements or tools to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.   

Particularly given the prevalence of improper payments within the Medicare program, the absence of safeguards or oversight regarding this new $3 billion fund raises major concerns. Moreover, a number of experts and analysts have questioned the need for such inordinate administrative spending, given the lack of any apparent rational basis for the funding level. Congress has an obligation to ensure accountability with respect to taxpayer dollars.  

The members request recurring briefings and status updates on how the Biden Administration has used, and plans to use, the $3 billion administrative funding moving forward.  

CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Note: In addition to this new letter, Republican Leaders on the Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and Means Committee urged Secretary Becerra to be completely transparent and forthright with how he plans to spend the $3 billion implementation funds. They asked how he plans to execute government price controls and to be transparent how those decisions could limit seniors’ access to innovative medicines. Read their letter from August 2022 by CLICKING HERE.