WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration is cracking down on alleged waste, fraud and abuse in Obamacare by targeting hundreds of thousands of enrollments as millions of Americans face rising insurance costs.
In September, the Trump administration said it targeted unauthorized ACA enrollments covering more than 750,000 people, expected to save $2.2 billion.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 189,000 people were flagged for duplicate coverage or deceased status.
“No one is losing insurance coverage based on what’s happening today. What we are doing is saving a lot of money,” said CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. “We think we can right this ship and keep the ACA strong for years to come.”
The crackdown comes after big changes for marketplace enrollees in the past year, including the end of COVID-era enhanced ACA subsidies.
“We’ve seen premiums skyrocket following the failure to extend those very essential ACA enhanced premium tax credits. Premiums increase by more than half this year,” said Breyon Williams, the chief economist at Groundwork Collaborative.
“Although we don’t have the enhanced tax credits anymore, we still do have tax credits that a lot of hardworking families depend on from the ACA,” Williams added.
Williams said the administration is making it more difficult to both apply for and renew health insurance in the federal marketplace. He said with fewer folks buying in, costs will increase, even into next year.
“Folks should expect, unfortunately, to see increases in insurance premiums going into 2027,” said Williams.
In an effort to offset the price spikes, President Trump recently announced $500 refunds for eligible ACA customers, as well as $90 payments for some Medicare beneficiaries.
“Nearly 1 million hardworking Americans in 30 states will soon be getting refunds,” said President Trump.
Williams said those payments will not address the core issue.
“Unfortunately not,” said Williams. “This has been a pattern for the Trump administration where they inflict some pain, particularly on the budgets of hardworking families, and then offer up some sort of reprieve or relief for the pain that they inflicted.”
According to CMS, individuals whose records show they receive Obamacare subsidies while also being covered by Medicaid or Medicare are contacted and provided 30 days to dispute that they have duplicate coverage. If such individuals fail to do so, CMS ends subsidies for their Obamacare plan. After 30 days, individuals may appeal the determination of duplicate coverage or show that their Medicaid/CHIP coverage is about to lapse and regain Obamacare subsidies.
