Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, issued the following statement regarding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decision to suspend under-fire contracts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  

“Our goal is to be good stewards of our health care system and taxpayer dollars. We cannot accept the use of taxpayer funded political consultants at CMS, HHS, or any agency with the primary goal of boosting the profile of political appointees and not improving the lives of the Americans we serve. By awarding these multi-million-dollar contracts at the same time that critical funds to educate the public about affordable and accessible healthcare were cut, CMS’ ability to lead and carry out its mission is called into question,” said Congresswoman Blunt Rochester. “Suspending under-fire contracts at CMS is a step in the right direction, but it leaves more questions than answers. We need to know how these contracts were awarded, if there was any impropriety or personal bias made in that decision-making process, and what role these political consultants played in crafting policy. I join Chairman Frank Pallone’s call for an independent investigation by the HHS Office of Inspector General so that we can add transparency and shine a light on any wrongdoing.”

Just last week, reports surfaced about the widespread use of politically-connected GOP consultants at CMS, which were used by Administrator Seema Verma to boost her public profile. These multi-million-dollar contracts were issued while CMS slashed 90 million dollars in funding used to educate the public about open enrollment and the resources available to Americans looking to enroll in health coverage.

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester introduced H.R. 987, the MORE Health Education Act, which reverses CMS’s dramatic funding cuts to ACA marketing and outreach efforts and would prohibit funding from being used to market short-term limited duration health plans and association health plans.

In light of recent testimony citing unreleased CMS data proving the success of ACA marketing and outreach methods, Congresswoman Blunt Rochester led all Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats in calling for HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma to release any and all studies, data, and documents regarding marketing and outreach.

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