GOP wants an official ObamaCare watchdog

Senate Republicans want to create a top watchdog to dig into ObamaCare.

Sens. Pat Roberts (Kan.) and Rob Portman (Ohio) have introduced legislation that would create an Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act (SIGMA).  

{mosads}The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) already has an inspector general, but Roberts said he wanted to create a position that could investigate the healthcare law across the federal government.

“While all of the federal agencies charged with implementing Obamacare have their own Offices of the Inspector General, they are all investigating this law in their own silos,” Roberts said in a statement. “The Health and Human Services Inspector General isn’t talking to the Treasury IG, or the Department of Labor IG, or the Homeland Security IG.”

The legislation would give SIGMA the authority to “conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act,” according to the legislation.

Roberts suggested that it could investigate topics including the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act’s website, the employer mandate and the IRS’s role in handling the law’s tax credits and penalties.

The office would report to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) has introduced a companion bill in the House.