Obamacare crackdown: Why the Trump administration is cutting 750,000 people from health insurance | Today’s news
The Trump administration is seeking to remove about 750,000 people from Obamacare plans because it says they were fraudulently or improperly enrolled, Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday.
Trump admin will remove about 750 thousand people from Obamacare
The administration is also suspending insurance brokers accused of facilitating thousands of dubious applications.
Vance said officials will conduct additional verification on about 419,000 people whose eligibility requires further review.
Reuters reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) already canceled 315,000 Obamacare policies in August, affecting about 760,000 individuals, due to unverified citizenship or immigration status and suspected fraudulent enrollments.
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In a speech at the White House, Vance said the administration believed the hiring targeted at the latest action included people who were not eligible for federal subsidies. He estimated that the measure would save taxpayers about $2.2 billion, although that figure has not been independently verified.
The administration described the crackdown as an effort to protect affordable from fraud. Critics of the policy argued that the aggressive verification measures could also affect people who are legitimately entitled to coverage.
CMS has already taken steps to tighten oversight of the market. The agency said it ended insurance-tax credit advance payments or coverage for nearly 1.5 million people in 2025 after identifying people who were ineligible for financial assistance or were enrolled without their permission.
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 measures is the creation of health insurance marketplaces, where people who do not receive insurance from an employer or a government program can purchase individual health plans.
The law also provides premium tax credits to eligible consumers, reducing the amount they pay for coverage. In some states, marketplaces operate through the federal HealthCare.gov platform, and in others through state exchanges.
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The program has grown substantially. CMS reported that 23.1 million people elected 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 big problem. Expanded ACA subsidies put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic expired at the end of 2025, meaning many consumers faced higher costs. CMS projected that the average premium for the cheapest HealthCare.gov plan after tax credits would rise to $50 per month in 2026 for eligible consumers.
The latest crackdown comes as the administration prepares for another Obamacare enrollment cycle. According to the federal market schedule, annual open enrollment runs from November 1st to January 15th.
The administration also cracked down on brokers. CMS said 569 brokers were barred from participation after applications were found to contain implausible registration patterns or missing identifying information.
The scope of the latest measures means that questions about eligibility, subsidies and access to coverage are likely to remain central as Americans prepare to choose their health plans.
