Dive Brief:
- Vocal Affordable Care Act critic Jonathan Gruber, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist whose comments have sparked political turmoil, has been revealed to have served as an integral paid consultatant to top Obama administration officials on the ACA, including the portion of the law now under review by the Supreme Court.
- The House Oversight Committee provided 20,000 pages of consultation emails to The Wall Street Journal that illustrate his deep involvement—although HHS is downplaying it as "old news."
- As the newspaper notes, the committee released the information in the days leading up to the Supreme Court's decision on whether to strike down subsidies for those using the federal insurance exchange.
Dive Insight:
Some critics suggest that confusion or deception may purposely have been infused into the ACA.
The Obama administration has previously downplayed Gruber as "some adviser" since he made waves with controversial statements in a 2013 video, saying that the ACA passed because of its lack of transparency and the "stupidity of the American voter." He later apologized for those comments.
HHS is now trying to downplay Gruber once more. A spokesperson for the agency said, "As has been previously reported, Mr. Gruber was a widely used economic modeler for administrations and state governments run by both parties—both before and after the Affordable Care Act was passed. These emails only echo old news."