The Nonpartisan Congressional Research Service:
... [T]he risk corridor program directs payments to be made by the Secretary of HHS to certain insurers that have underestimated their premiums for a given plan year through 2016. However, statutory and constitutional provisions prohibit federal agencies from making payments in the absence of a valid appropriation. Under longstanding GAO interpretations, an appropriation must consist of both a direction to pay and a specified source of funds. While the language of ACA § 1342(b)(1) establishes a directive to the Secretary to make such payments, it does not specify a source from which those payments are to be made. Therefore, § 1342 would not appear to constitute an appropriation of funds for the purposes of risk corridor payments under that section. ...[T]here does not appear to be sufficient statutory language creating a revolving fund that would make amounts received under § 1342(b)(2) available to pay amounts due to eligible plans under § 1342(b)(1). ...
