The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration credits its fraud control efforts for the disappearance of millions of people from Obamacare rolls rather than a sharp rise in premiums \u2014 a claim disputed by policy experts that glosses over the reality that many more Americans now find themselves without health insurance.<\/p>\n
This story also ran on CBS News. It can be republished for free.<\/p>\n
Enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans fell by nearly 3 million this year to about 19.2 million, following steep premium increases by insurers and the Republican-led Congress\u2019 unwillingness to extend more generous premium subsidies. On average, ACA customers pay $178 a month in premium payments this year, a 58% increase from 2025, according to KFF, while their deductibles \u2014 the amount consumers must pay annually before insurers pick up their share \u2014 have climbed 37% to nearly $3,800 a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are real people who are now forced to make impossible choices,\u201d said Annalyse Keller, a spokesperson for Keep Americans Covered, a large coalition of lobby organizations for the healthcare industry, including insurers and patient advocacy groups.<\/p>\n
But a Department of Health and Human Services report released in June, written mostly by President Donald Trump\u2019s political appointees and allies, asserts that 5.6 million people were fraudulently enrolled in ACA plans in 2025, and that the Trump administration removed 2.9 million of them \u2014 the same number as the 2026 drop in enrollment.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little dispute that the ACA suffers from some fraud, as do most government programs. The administration said it has taken actions to tighten the enrollment process to thwart brokers who fraudulently enroll people without their knowledge.<\/p>\n
For example, the administration in August 2025 halted a Biden-era initiative that allowed low-income people to sign up for coverage year-round. Regulators also have removed 1.5 million people since 2025 for reasons such as not meeting a requirement to file their taxes over two years or being concurrently enrolled in another health program, such as Medicaid, which is not allowed.<\/p>\n
But health policy experts say that the administration is overstating the extent of ACA fraud and that the HHS report relies on debatable assumptions, such as that all sign-ups under the year-round enrollment program for low-income people were potentially fraudulent. ACA enrollment fell off a cliff because of escalating prices for insurance plans, policy analysts say, which the administration\u2019s done nothing to stem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe top-level claim\u201d that all the decline in enrollment since 2025 is because of improper or fraudulent enrollees leaving the market \u201cis not remotely credible,\u201d said Matthew Fiedler, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. \u201cWe know that lots of people have seen higher premiums, and there\u2019s really good evidence that when premiums go up, people drop coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Healthcare costs are a big concern for voters ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections, and both Democrats and Republicans are trying to spin the issue to their advantage. Democrats argue more needs to be done to make insurance less expensive for consumers, while Republicans are trying to focus on the need to save taxpayer dollars from fraud.<\/p>\n
A recent KFF poll found that voters trust Democrats over Republicans to address healthcare costs (37% vs. 26%). The poll also found, though, that 55% of Republican voters consider it extremely important for candidates to address healthcare fraud, more than any other issue, showing that the White House\u2019s effort to shift focus from costs has had some success with its own supporters.<\/p>\n
But Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of health policy and management at the University of North Carolina, questioned whether the fraud narrative will hold up as voters continue to struggle with rising costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be cold comfort to the very real persons who could no longer afford coverage and dropped their plans,\u201d he said in an email to KFF Health News.<\/p>\n
Under President Joe Biden, Congress passed a law that included more generous tax subsidies for people enrolled in Obamacare, starting in 2021. Those enhanced subsidies lowered premium payments, with millions qualifying for a large enough tax credit to reduce their monthly payment to zero. The Biden-era law also allowed wealthier households to get assistance.<\/p>\n