Consumers could try to to defraud the federal health insurance tax credit program by having the Internal Revenue Service send the money to a relative at a health insurer.
More consumers could try to defraud the program by lying about their income.
John Koskinen, the new IRS commissioner, talked about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act premium tax credit fraud possibilities today at a hearing on the IRS organized by the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee.
Allegations that the IRS might have misused questions about political activity to attack organizations affiliated with the Tea Party movement overshadowed talk about PPACA at the hearing.
About an hour in, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., asked Koskinen about how the IRS will deal with the possibility that crooks could try to siphon off some of the $900 billion in PPACA tax credits the IRS might pay out over a 10-year period.
Jenkins cited estimates that about 80 percent of the people who buy coverage through the exchanges will qualify for and use the credits.
