A recent report by a government watchdog has revealed that a staggering 90% of fake applicants have been approved for Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies without proper documentation over the past two years. These findings, released on Wednesday, highlight significant vulnerabilities in the system.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted undercover tests on the federal ACA marketplace, uncovering “fraud risks” particularly related to the advance premium tax credit. This credit was at the center of a recent political standoff, where Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to extend it, leading to a government shutdown.
The GAO’s investigation found that the federal Marketplace approved nearly all of their fictitious applications for coverage in both 2024 and 2025. This pattern mirrors results from similar examinations conducted between 2014 and 2016.
In 2024, all four of the GAO’s fake applicants were granted coverage with reduced monthly premiums. This was made possible through $2,350 monthly subsidies from Obamacare, even though no documentation was provided to verify Social Security numbers, citizenship, or reported income.
By 2025, the GAO increased their number of test applicants to 20, and as of September that year, 18 were still receiving coverage.
The subsidies approved for these 18 fake enrollees amounted to over $10,000 each month, exposing significant financial mismanagement within the program.
Evidence of potential “misuse” of Social Security numbers, including dead people receiving coverage, was also discovered by the GAO.
In plan year 2023 alone, one Social Security number was used to receive subsidized insurance coverage “for over 26,000 days (over 71 years of coverage) across over 125 insurance policies.”
In 2024, 66,000 Social Security numbers were linked to more than a years’ worth of subsidized coverage.
GAO also compared Social Security numbers of the deceased to those that received tax credits and in 2023 and identified over 58,000 matches, including at least 7,000 people who died before coverage began.
The report explained that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the federal marketplace for Obamacare, doesn’t bar a Social Security number already used for an enrollment to be used again – in order to allow people to get coverage in instances where identity theft takes place.
Top Republican lawmakers described the report as the “smoking gun” proving their claims that Obamacare is “broken.”
“GAO’s troubling report is the smoking gun that shows how this broken system, shielded by Democrat policies, has led to the federal government shoveling tens of billions of tax dollars to insurance companies through identity fraud and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Americans,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said in a statement.
The GAO investigation was requested by Smith along with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“Republicans have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare and how Democrats’ failed policies to temporarily prop up the program have exacerbated fraud, hurt patients, increased the burden on American taxpayers, and artificially masked the true health care affordability crisis plaguing Americans today,” Guthrie said in a statement.
“The concerning findings from GAO’s report further confirm that Republican efforts to strengthen, secure, and sustain our federal health programs are critical and necessary to ensure access to quality health care at prices Americans can afford.”
Jordan said the report “confirms what we already knew: under Obamacare, hardworking Americans saw their premiums skyrocket and their healthcare choices shrink, all while fraud benefitted insurance companies.”
“Obamacare was built on lies and broken promises that hurt families and drove up costs,” the Ohio Republican added.
As part of deal Senate Democrats struck with Senate Majority John Thune (R-SD) last month to reopen the government, the upper chamber is expected to take up a vote on extending the pandemic-era ACA tax credit, which is currently set to expire at the end of the year.
