Vitter Seeks Answers From IRS on Congress’s Obamacare Contradiction

Sen. David Vitter (R., La.) is demanding answers from the IRS after Congress was issued tax forms designating it as a large employer despite its registering as a “small business” through the Washington, D.C., health care exchange.

The Republican senator sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen inquiring whether it was a violation of the Internal Revenue Code for Congress to declare to the IRS that it was a large employer while declaring to the D.C. government that it was a small business.

Congress’s efforts to comply with Obamacare regulations have been dogged by controversy since the bill’s passage in 2010. An amendment to the Affordable Care Act required congressional employees to sign up for coverage through the health care exchanges but offered no provision for subsidies.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) used a federal regulation in 2013 to deem Congress a “small business,” thereby making its employees eligible for subsidies, despite the fact that Congress has more than 12,000 workers and dependents.

Vitter’s letter suggested that the contradiction in paperwork means Congress is flouting the law.

“You also know that in the ACA the term ‘large employer’ is defined as an employer with 50 or more full-time employees. And yet, as described above, Congress has registered as a small employer, creating a conflict that is a cause of great concern,” Vitter writes in his letter.

“Given that Congress has registered itself with DC Health Link as a small business, yet has declared to the Internal Revenue Service it is a large employer, it would appear that it is misrepresenting itself to either the DC Health Link or to the IRS …

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