The administration continues to work on fraud in government services. In one such audit, they found 760,000 unauthorized individuals enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid services, costing $2.2 billion.
In a fact sheet, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it had “canceled approximately 315,000 enrollments covering over 760,000 individuals.” This action came after confirmation that these enrollments were unauthorized.
CMS acted after investigations in coordination with insurance companies. It will result in approximately $2.2 billion in Obamacare subsidies being refunded to the federal government.
Since January 2026, CMS has sent termination notices to more than 200 noncompliant agents and brokers. This summer, CMS issued 569 notices of intent to terminate Exchange Agreements to agents and brokers that submitted 2026 applications without identifying applicant information, such as a Social Security Number (SSN).
The timeline for brokers to respond has passed, and the termination notices are going out; 66 have already been terminated. A total of 569 will be terminated.
Fraud or Incompetence
CMS data show that agents and brokers who first registered for the 2026 plan year make up a small share of all agent/broker-assisted enrollments. However, they account for far more unauthorized enrollments and other high-risk Marketplace activity.
Compared to agents and brokers who registered before 2026, this group of newly registered agents and brokers is responsible for agent/broker-assisted enrollments that are:
- 2.8 times more likely to have unresolved income verification issues;
- 2.7 times more likely to be missing Social Security Numbers;
- 2.6 times more likely to have unresolved citizenship or immigration status verification issues;
- 1.6 times more likely to use Special Enrollment Periods not subject to verification;
- 1.4 times more likely to include Medicaid denial attestations; and
- 1.4 times more likely to be found dually enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP and Marketplace coverage
CMS announced a temporary moratorium on agent and broker registration.
As last year’s GAO report noted, 19 of 20 fictitious enrollees obtained subsidized coverage from the federal Exchange.
And one party wants the government to take care of everything in our lives. They can’t handle what they have now.
More detailed report at The Federalist.