Obamacare crackdown: Why Trump administration is removing 750,000 people from health insurance rolls

The Trump administration plans to remove hundreds of thousands of people from Obamacare rolls over alleged improper enrollment, while suspending brokers. The move comes as healthcare costs rise and millions remain dependent on ACA marketplace coverage.

The Trump administration is moving to remove around 750,000 people from Obamacare plans, alleging that they were fraudulently or improperly enrolled, Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday.

Trump admin to remove around 750k people from Obamacare

The administration is also suspending insurance brokers accused of facilitating thousands of questionable enrolments.

Vance said officials would carry out additional verification on roughly 419,000 people whose eligibility requires further scrutiny.

Reuters reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had already cancelled 315,000 Obamacare policies in August, affecting about 760,000 individuals, because of unverified citizenship or immigration status and suspected fraudulent enrolments.

Vance, speaking at the White House, said the administration believed the enrolments targeted in the latest action involved people who were not entitled to receive federal subsidies. He estimated the measures would save taxpayers about $2.2 billion, although that figure has not been independently verified.

The administration has framed the crackdown as an effort to protect the Affordable from fraud. Critics of the policy have argued that aggressive verification measures could also affect people who are legitimately eligible for coverage.

CMS has already taken steps to tighten oversight of the marketplace. The agency said it ended advance premium-tax-credit payments or coverage for nearly 1.5 million people in 2025 after identifying people who were ineligible for financial assistance or had been enrolled without their authorisation.

What is Obamacare?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010 under President Barack Obama. Among its major provisions, it created health insurance marketplaces where people who do not receive coverage through an employer or government programme can buy individual health plans.

The law also provides premium tax credits to eligible consumers, reducing the amount they pay for coverage. The marketplaces operate through the federal HealthCare.gov platform in some states and through state-based exchanges in others.

The programme has grown substantially. CMS reported that 23.1 million people selected or were automatically re-enrolled in ACA marketplace coverage for 2026, making it one of the largest sources of individual health insurance in the US.

However, affordability has become a major issue. Enhanced ACA subsidies introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic expired at the end of 2025, meaning many consumers have faced higher costs. CMS projected that the average premium for the lowest-cost HealthCare.gov plan after tax credits would rise to $50 a month for eligible consumers in 2026.

The latest crackdown comes as the administration prepares for another Obamacare enrolment cycle. Under the federal marketplace schedule, annual open enrolment runs from 1 November to 15 January.

The administration has also moved against brokers. CMS said 569 brokers were barred from participation after applications were found to contain implausible enrolment patterns or missing identification information.

The scale of the latest action means questions over eligibility, subsidies and access to coverage are likely to remain central as Americans prepare to choose their health plans.

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