'Stupid and Evil': Severe Outrage After White House Revokes Health Care Coverage for 750K Americans

The Trump administration has cancelled approximately 315,000 unauthorised Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace enrolments covering more than 760,000 individuals, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The action, announced on Tuesday by Vice President JD Vance and CMS Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz, is expected to result in the return of roughly $2.2 billion (£1.66 billion) in advance premium tax credit payments.

What the Government Says Happened

CMS said the cancellations followed reviews with health insurers that identified enrolments it determined were unauthorised after investigation under its existing process.

The agency described the move as part of broader efforts to address fraud, waste and abuse in the Federal Marketplace, and said it would continue working with insurers to identify and cancel potentially unauthorised enrolments.

Vance, who chairs the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, said the task force had been pursuing fraud and improper-payment investigations across federal programmes since its establishment in March 2026.

Administration officials said some cases involved people allegedly enrolled without their knowledge, people who did not meet Marketplace eligibility requirements, or what Vance referred to as 'phantom people.' Oz separately said more than a third of people in the system had never used the programme, which he presented as an indicator of potential fraud.

Broker Crackdown and New Verification Rules

Alongside the cancellations, CMS announced a temporary moratorium on registering agents and brokers for the 2027 plan year if they do not have an active 2026 Exchange Agreement.

Agents and brokers with active 2026 agreements are not covered by the new registration moratorium, although CMS is imposing additional identity-verification and consumer-authorisation requirements.

CMS said it had issued 569 notices of intent to terminate Exchange Agreements to agents and brokers who submitted applications without key applicant information. Sixty-six had already received termination notices, while 469 cases remained subject to response deadlines.

The agency also said it had issued termination notices to more than 200 non-compliant agents and brokers since January 2026.

Going forward, applications involving an agent or broker must include a verifiable Social Security number or immigration document number for non-newborn applicants.

CMS said it would prevent agents and brokers from being added to applications that consumers are required to complete themselves through HealthCare.gov and will require electronic consumer authorisation before an agent or broker can act on an application or enrolment.

Vance's task force said an additional 419,000 individuals were undergoing further verification, according to reports. The additional review includes checks of immigration or citizenship status and income eligibility, according to administration officials. Administration officials said people who failed to provide the requested documentation could lose their subsidies.

Political Context and Criticism

Vance blamed the Biden administration for what he described as weaknesses in Marketplace oversight and said broker incentives had contributed to improper enrolments. The administration says the measures are intended to target unauthorised and improper enrolments while protecting eligible consumers.

The move has nevertheless drawn criticism from ACA advocates and other opponents of the administration's approach. Critics on social media questioned whether a lack of claims could, by itself, establish that an enrolment was fraudulent.

The cancellation of enrolments covering more than 760,000 people has prompted criticism from ACA advocates, who argue that efforts to address improper enrolment could also affect legitimate consumers. The administration's use of terms such as 'phantom people' has also drawn criticism.

The move comes as Americans continue to face significant financial burdens from medical costs.