{"id":2625440,"date":"2026-07-06T08:57:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-shows-obamacare-fraud-is-worse-than-you-think\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T09:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T13:00:10","slug":"report-shows-obamacare-fraud-is-worse-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-shows-obamacare-fraud-is-worse-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Obamacare Fraud Is Worse Than You Think"},"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\">16<\/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%2Freport-shows-obamacare-fraud-is-worse-than-you-think%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=2625440&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>The article discusses recent findings from a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report concerning Obamacare exchange enrollments after the expiration of enhanced subsidies. While media focus has been on the decline in total enrollments, the report highlights issues such as fraudulent enrollments, improper income reporting, and questionable activity among beneficiaries. It notes that the government has removed hundreds of thousands of individuals from the rolls due to verification efforts, including those enrolled in multiple programs or failing to reconcile subsidies with actual income. A critically important number of enrollees with no premiums have canceled their plans,suggesting some may have been enrolled without consent or are concerned about repayment obligations. The report also flags suspicious enrollment patterns, like agents recording no social security number, and mentions efforts to remove additional individuals from subsidies, hindered by legal challenges. manny enrollees opt out when required to pay even minimal premiums, raising questions about the perceived value of coverage. the article argues that the widespread fraud and questionable enrollments, combined with federal spending and debt concerns, suggest that extending enhanced subsidies may be unwarranted and counterproductive.  <\/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<div>\n<p>Following the expiration of the Covid-era <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/02\/how-democrats-covid-bill-gives-welfare-to-the-wealthy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enhanced Obamacare subsidies<\/a> at the end of last year, the corporate media have remained focused on how much Exchange enrollment might decline this year. But a new <a href=\"https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/f5f29954221d5b5713070ac2541fda8e\/aca-enrollment-report-2026-final-version.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides another perspective on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>Official reports by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2025-08\/61506-marketplace.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Congressional Budget Office<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-26-108742.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Government Accountability Office<\/a> have previously examined how applicants <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/19\/budget-office-estimates-tens-of-billions-lost-to-obamacare-exchange-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">misstate their income<\/a> to qualify for subsidies and how Exchanges permitted <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/08\/report-obamacare-exchange-kept-9-out-of-10-fake-enrollees-on-subsidized-coverage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enrollment of fictitious applicants<\/a>. But the data HHS analyzed gives additional context and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >granular details surrounding improper enrollments<\/a> into Exchange coverage. It provides yet another reminder that \u201csuccess\u201d should not merely consist of the number of people (real or otherwise) enrolled in government programs \u2014 and that Congress and the administration should take additional action to guard against fraud.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Individuals Removed<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The report shows two facets of the same story: groups of individuals who have been disenrolled over the past year and additional groups still enrolled who show signs of questionable activity. The report reveals how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) removed enrollees over the second half of last year due to various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bbb-will-stop-millions-from-going-to-medicaid-for-dead-people\/\" title=\"BBB Will Stop Millions From Going To ... For Dead People\">program integrity efforts<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>As the graphic below shows, two rounds of Medicaid periodic data matching (PDM in the chart) \u2014 i.e., removing people enrolled <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/07\/30\/administration-finds-millions-of-individuals-double-enrolled-in-taxpayer-funded-coverage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">simultaneously in Medicaid and Exchange subsidies<\/a> \u2014 culled the rolls by about 550,000. Likewise, CMS also removed approximately 665,000 enrollees who did not file federal taxes to reconcile the subsidies they received in prior years (which are based on projected income) with the subsidy amounts they should have received based on actual income (i.e., failure to reconcile, or FTR in the chart).<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Additionally, the report notes that \u201c27.8 percent of individuals in a plan where they pay no premiums whatsoever have canceled their plans through May 2026.\u201d It would ordinarily make no sense for someone receiving \u201cfree\u201d health coverage to disenroll from it \u2014 unless of course they were enrolled without their consent or are concerned about having to repay subsidies they do not qualify for.<\/p>\n<p>The corporate media have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/policy\/millions-of-americans-drop-obamacare-plans-after-withdrawal-of-subsidies-3419166e?mod=RSSMSN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">focused<\/a> on the 4 million decline in enrollment \u2014 i.e., the difference between the 23.1 million people who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/files\/document\/health-insurance-exchanges-2026-open-enrollment-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">selected a plan<\/a> during open enrollment (which ended in January) and the 19.2 million that the report says are paying premiums and currently enrolled. But if large percentages of people are canceling \u201cfree\u201d coverage, that is a separate story in and of itself.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Continued Questionable Conduct<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The report notes other potential flags that may indicate questionable enrollments of individuals who remain covered in Exchange plans. For instance, \u201cCMS recently identified 1 million highly suspicious agent and broker assisted enrollments through Healthcare.gov with no social security number on their application who are also paying no premium.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CMS would also like to remove an additional 300,000 people from subsidies for failing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-anti-virus-millionaire-john-mcafee-found-dead-from-suicide-in-spanish-prison-hours-after-extradition-order-report\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Anti-Virus Millionaire John McAfee Found Dead From Suicide In Spanish Prison, Hours After Extradition Order: ...\">file tax returns<\/a> and therefore not reconciling their subsidy amounts for prior years. However, a federal judge has <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.mdd.585385\/gov.uscourts.mdd.585385.73.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prohibited<\/a> the administration from enforcing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalregister.gov\/documents\/2025\/06\/25\/2025-11606\/patient-protection-and-affordable-care-act-marketplace-integrity-and-affordability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rule issued last year<\/a> that would require subsidy recipients to file taxes and reconcile past subsidies every year (as opposed to every two years under a Biden-era policy).<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Questionable Value of Coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Finally, the report notes that more than half (55 percent) of enrollees who were in a zero-premium plan last year, but were enrolled in a plan that required a premium in 2026, had their enrollment canceled for failure to pay that premium. By contrast, from 2017-2022, only an average of 18 percent of enrollees had their plan canceled for not paying a premium after being enrolled in a zero-premium plan the prior year. <\/p>\n<p>The growth in the rate of individuals getting coverage canceled when faced with a premium could reflect improper enrollment. However, it could also mean that some enrollees just don\u2019t value their coverage. They will stay signed up when the coverage is \u201cfree\u201d (i.e., totally paid for by the federal government) but will drop their plan if required to pay even a nominal premium. <\/p>\n<p>Recall that a Brookings Institution <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/how-would-eliminating-0-marketplace-premiums-affect-insurance-coverage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> last year found that charging enrollees a <em>de minimis<\/em> premium of even $1 per month would cause nearly 1 million individuals to drop coverage. As I <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/20\/charging-low-income-americans-just-1-monthly-obamacare-premiums-could-save-taxpayers-7-billion-a-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted at the time<\/a>, most Democrats would view this as a bug because people might become uninsured. But some conservatives might consider requiring everyone to pay something for their health coverage a feature, while asking a related question: If almost a million Americans won\u2019t even pay $1 monthly to enroll in an Exchange plan, what does that say about how they perceive the value (or lack thereof) of Obamacare?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Affordability Debate<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I won\u2019t attempt to argue that the enhanced subsidies\u2019 expiration had no effect. Near-retirees and households just above 400 percent of the poverty level (who became ineligible for subsidies) may face a substantial change in their out-of-pocket monthly costs for insurance. <\/p>\n<p>But the numerous signs of improper enrollment outlined in last week\u2019s report \u2014 to say nothing of the myriad ones that preceded it \u2014 coupled with the federal government\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/fiscaldata.treasury.gov\/datasets\/debt-to-the-penny\/debt-to-the-penny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$39 trillion<\/a> in debt, argue against spending another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files\/2025-09\/61734-Health.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$350 billion<\/a> (plus interest) to extend the enhanced subsidies. With fraud rampant and government spending stoking the rise in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-calls-travel-lid-for-wednesday-an-hour-after-bobulinski-interview-airs\/\" title=\"Biden Calls Travel Lid for Wednesday an Hour After Bobulinski Interview Airs\">health care costs<\/a>, such a measure would have only made both problems worse.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div>\n<p>      Chris Jacobs is founder and CEO of Juniper Research Group and author of the book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/1645720020\">The Case Against Single Payer<\/a>.&#8221; He is on Twitter: <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/chrisjacobsHC\">@chrisjacobsHC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HHS report highlights issues with Obamacare enrollment decline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2625441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Person-Monitoring-Dextrose.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[6909,4606,8322,12589,4633],"class_list":["post-2625440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-fraud","tag-healthcare","tag-insurance","tag-obamacare","tag-scandal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Person-Monitoring-Dextrose.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2625440","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\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2625440"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2625440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2625444,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2625440\/revisions\/2625444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2625441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2625440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2625440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2625440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}