Federal officials say a review of Affordable Care Act enrollment records identified 189,000 people receiving potentially improper subsidies, including individuals with duplicate government coverage and those listed as deceased.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump administration has terminated Affordable Care Act subsidies associated with 189,000 duplicate or deceased enrollees, a move federal officials estimate could save taxpayers approximately $1.5 billion over the next year.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Wednesday that its latest enrollment review identified individuals receiving subsidized Obamacare coverage despite already being enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The review also identified subsidized accounts associated with people listed as deceased in federal records.
The action follows the administration’s restoration of periodic eligibility checks, which CMS says were suspended for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees during the Biden administration from 2021 through 2024.
“When it comes to program integrity, the Biden Administration was sleeping on the job,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.
“They paused looking for duplicate Medicaid and Obamacare coverage for four years, creating a backlog of hundreds of thousands of duplicate enrollments.”
CMS said the latest findings build on enforcement efforts launched in 2025, when the agency ended duplicate Affordable Care Act subsidies for approximately 551,000 people who were also receiving Medicaid coverage.
Those earlier actions produced an estimated $4.4 billion in savings, according to administration figures. Combined with the latest projected savings, federal officials say the reviews account for nearly $6 billion in reduced spending.
“We’ve already saved nearly $6 billion, and we will continue to work hard to restore taxpayers’ confidence that the programs they fund are spending their hard-earned dollars wisely and efficiently,” Oz said.
The enforcement process relies on a system known as Medicaid/CHIP Periodic Data Matching, which compares federal marketplace enrollment records against other government healthcare databases.
Federal regulations require health insurance exchanges to conduct periodic checks to identify individuals who may be receiving overlapping government-funded coverage.
CMS said those checks were strengthened during Trump’s first administration but subsequently paused for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees, allowing potential duplicate enrollments to accumulate.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the renewed reviews are intended to preserve federal resources for eligible beneficiaries.
“Americans overwhelmingly support protecting access to healthcare for vulnerable Americans, but taxpayers shouldn’t pay twice for the same coverage,” Kennedy said.
“By cracking down on duplicate enrollments in Medicare or Medicaid and government-subsidized Affordable Care Act plans, HHS is safeguarding taxpayer dollars, so that every penny goes toward providing quality care for the vulnerable Americans who need it.”
The administration emphasized that individuals identified through the verification process are given an opportunity to challenge the findings before subsidies are terminated.
When federal records indicate that someone has overlapping coverage, CMS contacts the individual and provides 30 days to dispute the determination. Those who demonstrate that their Medicaid or CHIP coverage is ending may also qualify to retain or regain marketplace subsidies.
Similar procedures apply when government records incorrectly identify an individual as deceased. Affected individuals or their estates can contest the information before the agency ends the associated coverage.
According to The Daily Wire’s reporting on the initiative, officials have identified instances in which improper enrollment resulted from inaccurate income reporting or insurance brokers signing people up for coverage without their knowledge.
However, duplicate enrollment records do not necessarily establish intentional fraud by the beneficiaries involved. Administrative errors, delays in updating eligibility information and unauthorized broker activity can also result in overlapping coverage.
The latest enforcement action follows a separate initiative announced last month involving approximately 750,000 Affordable Care Act enrollments flagged for potential fraud or improper eligibility.
Vice President JD Vance defended the administration’s broader verification efforts during that announcement.
“We’re actually making sure that people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them,” Vance said.
“Amazingly, we weren’t doing that before.”
CMS has not released a detailed public accounting showing how much of the projected $1.5 billion represents confirmed improper payments versus anticipated future savings.
The agency maintains that strengthened enrollment checks will reduce unnecessary spending while preserving coverage for individuals who meet federal eligibility requirements.
The latest action underscores the administration’s continuing focus on identifying duplicate government healthcare payments and tightening oversight of federally subsidized insurance programs.
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