{"id":2518503,"date":"2025-12-07T12:14:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/widespread-obamacare-fraud-phony-ssns-had-a-100-success-rate-for-getting-coverage-investigation-finds\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T12:16:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T17:16:12","slug":"widespread-obamacare-fraud-phony-ssns-had-a-100-success-rate-for-getting-coverage-investigation-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/widespread-obamacare-fraud-phony-ssns-had-a-100-success-rate-for-getting-coverage-investigation-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Widespread Obamacare Fraud: Phony SSNs Had a 100% Success Rate for Getting Coverage, Investigation Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwidespread-obamacare-fraud-phony-ssns-had-a-100-success-rate-for-getting-coverage-investigation-finds%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2518503&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report exposes widespread fraud and systemic failures in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace amid ongoing Congressional debates over the future of Obamacare&#8217;s enhanced premium subsidies. The inquiry found that applications using fake identities, invalid, or even deceased individuals&#8217; Social Security numbers were routinely approved for taxpayer-funded subsidies, with 100% of fictitious applications accepted in 2024.Fraud is especially prevalent among enrollees qualifying for zero-premium plans, raising concerns that these plans enable exploitation by bad actors. Further, the report revealed that millions of dollars were improperly paid out for coverage linked to deceased individuals. Republican lawmakers criticize the findings as evidence of Obamacare&#8217;s flawed structure and emphasize the need to secure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-more-hsas-could-help-dig-us-out-of-the-hole-of-disastrous-medicaid-expansion\/\" title=\"How More HSAs Could Help Dig Us Out Of The Hole Of Disastrous Medicaid Expansion\">federal health programs<\/a>.meanwhile,Democrats warn that discontinuing expanded subsidies would lead to significant premium increases and coverage losses for millions. Despite projections of a 20% rise in ACA premiums in 2026, analyses suggest that ending the subsidies would only account for a small portion of this increase.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A scathing new Government Accountability Office report identified rampant fraud and systemic failures in the Affordable Care Act marketplace just as Congress is battling over the future of Obamacare&rsquo;s enhanced premium subsidies.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-26-108742\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a>, released Wednesday, revealed that fictitious identities, invalid Social Security numbers, and even deceased individuals were easily approved for taxpayer-funded subsidies. Every single application investigators submitted using fabricated or invalid Social Security numbers in 2024 was approved for coverage.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Republicans have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare and how Democrats&rsquo; failed policies to temporarily prop up the program have exacerbated fraud, hurt patients, increased the burden on American taxpayers,&rdquo; Rep. Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The concerning findings from GAO&rsquo;s report further confirm that Republican efforts to strengthen, secure, and sustain our federal health programs are critical and necessary to ensure access to quality health care at prices Americans can afford,&rdquo; Guthrie added.<\/p>\n<p>The month-long government shutdown that ended just before Thanksgiving stemmed largely from Democrats&rsquo; refusal to budge on the expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, which they passed without a single Republican vote in 2021 and is set to expire at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Those subsidies were originally limited to households earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. However, Democrats removed the upper income cap and increased the subsidy amounts, and in some cases reduced premiums to zero.<\/p>\n<p>Fraud is especially widespread among enrollees reporting incomes between 100 percent and 150 percent of the federal poverty level, who qualify for zero-premium plans. Critics say zero-premium plans create opportunities for bad actors to sign up unsuspecting victims without their knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>In nine states, the number of sign-ups at that income level exceeded the number of eligible residents, according to a joint <a href=\"https:\/\/thefga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ObamaCare-Subsidy-Fraud-paper_8-26-25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">report<\/a> from the Foundation for Government Accountability and the Paragon Health Institute.<\/p>\n<p>GAO&rsquo;s undercover investigation found that 100 percent of the fictitious applications it submitted were approved in late 2024, and 18 out of 20 fake applicants were still receiving subsidized coverage for 2025. ACA marketplaces approved coverage even when no documents were requested, or fake documents were submitted, including those related to the applicants&rsquo; citizenship status.<\/p>\n<p>The government watchdog also uncovered 66,000 Social Security numbers with more than a year&rsquo;s worth of subsidized coverage in 2024, including one number used for the equivalent of 71 years of coverage &mdash; in a single plan year.<\/p>\n<p>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages the ACA marketplace, does not block new applications using the same Social Security number, according to the report.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, 58,000 SSNs receiving benefits in 2023 matched Social Security death data, resulting in $94 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies being sent to health insurers on behalf of deceased individuals.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For years, we were told we could keep our plan, keep our doctor, and premiums would go down. None of it happened,&rdquo; Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said in a statement. &ldquo;This new report confirms what we already knew: under Obamacare, hardworking Americans saw their premiums skyrocket and their healthcare choices shrink, all while <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >fraud benefited insurance companies<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>CMS did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation&rsquo;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats, meanwhile, warn that without extending the expanded subsidies, millions of Americans will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/6-reasons-congress-should-resist-expanding-obamacare\/\" title=\"6 Reasons Congress Should Resist Expanding Obam...re\">face steep premium hikes<\/a> and loss of coverage.<\/p>\n<p>ACA premiums are projected to rise by 20 percent on average in 2026, but Paragon&rsquo;s earlier analysis found that the expiring subsidy would account for just 3.3 percent of those premiums.<\/p>\n<p>The group also <a href=\"https:\/\/paragoninstitute.org\/paragon-pic\/obamacare-plan-premiums-have-increased-nearly-2x-faster-than-employer-based-premiums-since-2014\/#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">found<\/a> that Obamacare plan premiums have grown nearly twice as fast as employer-sponsored plans since the ACA took effect.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p><em>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A harsh new report from the Government Accountability Office exposed widespread fraud and systemic issues within the Affordable Care Act marketplace, coinciding with Congressional debates over the future of Obamacare&#8217;s expanded premium subsidies. Released Wednesday, the report showed that fake identities, invalid Social Security numbers, and even deceased people were frequently approved for taxpayer-funded subsidies. In fact, every application submitted by investigators using fabricated or invalid Social Security numbers in 2024 was approved for coverage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2518504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-03T180725.722.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6909,35076,3976,12589,52680],"class_list":["post-2518503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-fraud","tag-health-insurance","tag-investigation","tag-obamacare","tag-social-security-numbers"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2025-12-03T180725.722.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518507,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518503\/revisions\/2518507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}