Vance Orders Removal of 760,000 ACA Enrollees in U.S.

By Scott Bishop Yuma, AZ · WASHINGTON, D.C. —

Published Updated 3 min read

Vice President JD Vance announced the cancellation of 315,000 plans covering 760,000 people due to suspected fraud. Officials state the action will save $2.2 billion while verifying citizenship and income for additional enrollees.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance announced the removal of approximately 760,000 enrollees from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services canceled approximately 315,000 Affordable Care Act plans covering about 760,000 people. "These programs are deserving, they are important, but they’re not going to exist unless we stop the fraud," JD Vance said. "We expect that most of these people are fraudulently enrolled," JD Vance said.

The administration estimates the removal of these enrollees will save $2.2 billion in taxpayer funds. Officials cited unverified citizenship or immigration documentation and suspected improper enrollments as reasons for the cancellations.

"We’re actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them," Vance said. "Amazingly, we weren’t doing that before." Vance leads the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

"You have a system where, on the one hand, brokers are paid money to feed patients into the system, while on the other hand, the government isn't even checking whether the people enrolled are actually eligible for the program. What do you have? Of course, rampant, rampant fraud," Vance said.

Mehmet Oz serves as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Oz claimed that around 35% of people currently in the Obamacare system have never used the program. The administration is verifying the eligibility of an additional 419,000 enrollees to ensure they are legal U.S. residents and meet income thresholds.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will bar 569 brokers who submitted statistically implausible rates of plan year 2026 applications without necessary applicant information. The administration announced a six-month moratorium on new insurance broker and agent registrations for Affordable Care Act plans. Brokers without a 2026 registration will be frozen out until February 1, 2027. The Health and Human Services Department published a rule titled "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Temporary Moratoria on Certain Agent and Broker Registration To Participate in the Exchanges" on September 23, 2026.

CMS said unauthorized enrollments through Obamacare plans could result in up to $6.6 billion in improper federal spending for the 2026 plan year. More than 1 million enrollees received coverage without providing a Social Security number, according to CMS. Roughly 19.2 million Americans are actively enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

What's New

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in August that 2.3 million Obamacare enrollees improperly claimed premium tax credits by intentionally overstating their income in 2025. President Trump stated in a September 9 speech that the administration would stop all government payments to big insurance companies if Republicans retain control of Congress.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services logged 270,000 complaints from people enrolled in or changed to plans they didn’t want over an eight-month span. "I think there's no question that somebody who was fraudulently enrolled should have their coverage canceled, however, I think the question is whether this was the appropriate process by which to identify fraudulent enrollees, and also whether all of them were indeed fraudulently enrolled," Cynthia Cox said.

How Sources Differ

White House press conference: Vice President JD Vance announced the removal of approximately 760,000 enrollees from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announcement: The administration announced a six-month moratorium on new insurance broker and agent registrations for Affordable Care Act plans.

Why It Matters

The scale of the cancellations affects a portion of the roughly 19.2 million Americans actively enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026. The administration’s actions fit a documented pattern of enforcement, including the suspension of 850 brokers and agents suspected of fraud by the Biden administration in 2024 and the pausing of Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota in July 2026.

Public opinion remains divided on the priority of fraud prevention versus coverage access. While more than 70% of voters consider discussing fraud in government health programs an extremely or very important issue, 71% believe preserving access to coverage is more important than rooting out fraud. Additionally, 65% of respondents viewed the Administration’s Medicaid payment deferrals as mostly politically motivated.

fact_check Facts

Vice President JD Vance announced the removal of approximately 760,000 enrollees from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services canceled approximately 315,000 Affordable Care Act plans covering about 760,000 people.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will bar 569 brokers who submitted statistically implausible rates of plan year 2026 applications without necessary applicant information.
The administration announced a six-month moratorium on new insurance broker and agent registrations for Affordable Care Act plans.
Brokers without a 2026 registration will be frozen out until February 1, 2027.
JD Vance, Vice President
"We’re actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them."
JD Vance, Vice President
"Amazingly, we weren’t doing that before."
Charles E. Schumer, Senate Minority Leader
"As health care costs skyrocket and millions of Americans go uninsured, what is JD Vance and Donald Trump’s solution? Kick hundreds of thousands more people off their health insurance."
Richard E. Neal, Representative
"Republicans have already created the worst healthcare crisis ever, but every decision by the Trump Administration is designed to keep making it worse."
Mychal Walker, President of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals
"A blanket moratorium on new agent and broker registrations would punish legitimate professionals instead of targeting the bad actors responsible for fraud."
Ellen Montz, Former Deputy Administrator at CMS
"There’s a lot of work to be done, and the Trump administration has done some good things that are targeting the actual fraudsters."
The White House is working with Senate leadership to pass health care fraud legislation before the end of the congressional session.
Mehmet Oz, CMS Administrator
Dr. Mehmet Oz claimed that around 35% of people currently in the Obamacare system have never used the program.
Brad Woodhouse, President of Protect Our Care
Brad Woodhouse, president of Protect Our Care, said the task force is "a political stunt designed to throw even more people off their coverage while pretending to save taxpayers’ money."

menu_bookBackground & Context

Context and data our newsroom added to the originating report.

Vance leads the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
Mehmet Oz serves as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Senator Eric Schmitt led an effort to investigate Medicaid fraud in Maine earlier in the year.
A December Government Accountability Office report found that 66,000 Social Security numbers were enrolled in multiple Obamacare plans as of 2024.
The Government Accountability Office found that roughly $94 million in federal subsidies were dispensed for plans created with a dead person’s Social Security number.
The Government Accountability Office found that an estimated 160,000 tax-credit applications may have been charged by insurers without a taxpayer’s authorization.
A third of tax credits in 2023 were not checked against a person’s income.
President Trump stated in a September 9 speech that the administration would stop all government payments to big insurance companies if Republicans retain control of Congress.
A Department of Health and Human Services report estimated that nearly half of new Obamacare enrollments between 2021 and 2024 may have been improper, phantom, or fraudulent.
More than 1 million enrollees received coverage without providing a Social Security number, according to CMS.
Roughly 19.2 million Americans are actively enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in August that 2.3 million Obamacare enrollees improperly claimed premium tax credits by intentionally overstating their income in 2025.
The Biden administration suspended 850 brokers and agents suspected of fraud in 2024.
Paragon Health Institute reported that nearly 12 million policyholders had no medical claims in 2024.
Only people who earn less than 400% of the poverty level are eligible for ACA assistance following the expiration of enhanced subsidies.
The 400% poverty level threshold equates to $62,600 for an individual and $128,600 for a family of four.
The administration paused $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California and $199 million in Minnesota in July, citing suspected fraud and noncompliance.
A KFF poll conducted in June found that more than 70% of voters feel it is an extremely or very important issue for candidates to discuss fraud in government health programs ahead of the midterm elections.
The same KFF poll found that 71% of respondents believed preserving access to coverage was more important than rooting out fraud.
The KFF poll found that 65% of respondents believed the Administration’s Medicaid payment deferrals were mostly politically motivated.
Health and Human Services Department published rule titled "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Temporary Moratoria on Certain Agent and Broker Registration To Participate in the Exchanges" on 2026-09-23.
The Trump administration announced a six-month suspension on new agents or brokers who sign up enrollees for healthcare coverage.

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