WASHINGTON – Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials said Tuesday that roughly 760,000 people will be removed from Affordable Care Act insurance marketplaces after officials determined they were either enrolled through fraudulent applications or could not be verified as real individuals.
Vance said halting subsidy payments linked to those enrollments is expected to save the federal government approximately $2.2 billion.
“We’re actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them,” Vance said Tuesday during remarks at the White House. Vance, who heads a government-wide effort targeting fraud, appeared alongside Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and other administration officials.
The administration also announced a six-month pause on allowing new insurance brokers to enroll marketplace customers. Officials said brokers account for a disproportionately large share of the fraudulent activity identified in the review.
The move is part of a broader Trump administration campaign against alleged fraud nationwide, including within federal healthcare programs. Officials argue that tighter oversight is necessary to curb government spending and protect taxpayers.
The announcement arrives as inflation and escalating healthcare expenses add pressure on the administration to offer Americans a strategy for lowering costs before the midterm elections.
ACA coverage has become significantly more expensive for many Americans during President Donald Trump’s second term. Republicans opposed extending the enhanced subsidies created during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had reduced insurance costs for many marketplace customers during President Joe Biden’s administration.
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After the Republican-led Congress permitted those subsidies to expire this year, premiums doubled or even tripled for some enrollees. Millions responded by switching to less comprehensive plans or abandoning marketplace coverage altogether.
About 19.2 million people were enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026, according to information posted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The White House directed The Associated Press to Vance’s office for further details about the administration’s broader plans to make healthcare more affordable.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the administration’s plan to remove the ACA enrollees from the public insurance exchanges.
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Associated Press White House reporter Michelle Price contributed to this report.
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