News of the Day September 23, 2026
U.S. Halts Obamacare Enrollment for over 760,000 Enrollees, Claiming Fraud

The ​Trump administration is halting enrollment in Obamacare health plans for more than 760,000 enrollees it believes were fraudulently signed up, ‌Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday, part of an anti-fraud effort he estimated would save $2.2 billion in taxpayer money.

The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services canceled about 315,000 plans last month, citing unverified citizenship or immigration documentation and suspected improper enrollments.

The agency will bar 569 brokers it accused of submitting “statistically implausible rates of plan year 2026 ​applications” without necessary applicant information such as a Social Security number.

Vance described the canceled group as “a mix of both phantom people, but also real people who just don’t meet the eligibility requirements,” including ​some he said who were signed up by brokers without their knowledge.

Vance said the administration would further verify between 419,000 and 450,000 more people to confirm they are legal US residents meeting income thresholds.

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the enrollees were treated as “phantoms” because officials believe most either do not exist or were unaware they had coverage, ​having never filed a claim and being unreachable despite repeated contact attempts.

The administration is using an emergency-style rulemaking process to impose an ​immediate, industry-wide freeze on new Obamacare broker registrations, bypassing the usual advance notice-and-comment period. Oz called it a “temporary national moratorium” for six months, saying most fraud was ‌concentrated among ⁠such agents.