The White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — led by Vice President JD Vance — plans to remove 750,000 Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange enrollments that administration officials said are fraudulent, unauthorized, or ineligible, according to reports.
Citing administration officials, The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that the action would cancel subsidy payments and save an estimated $2.2 billion.
The affected enrollments include people who allegedly did not know they were enrolled in the ACA — also also known as Obamacare — had access to employer-sponsored coverage, or earned more than the income limits for subsidized marketplace plans, the media outlet noted.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, is expected to announce the effort alongside Vance on Tuesday. CMS also plans to terminate 469 insurance agents and brokers, after already removing 66 from the federal exchange, administration officials told the WSJ.
The agency will impose a nationwide moratorium on new agents and brokers and review the immigration status and income eligibility of 415,000 current enrollees, per the WSJ.
Administration officials said 40 agents and brokers generated 50,000 allegedly fraudulent enrollments, costing the government $45 million, the outlet noted. Marketplace brokers are typically paid by insurers for enrolling consumers.
The moves follow a surge in ACA enrollment during the Biden administration, when enrollment rose from about 10 million people to more than 22 million, according to the WSJ. Federal officials said expanded subsidies and loosened verification requirements contributed to improper enrollments.
The administration also plans to end a Biden-era policy that allowed some consumers to continue receiving subsidies after declining to provide required identity and eligibility documents.