The Affordable Care Act's exchanges are highly vulnerable to fraud, allowing fake identities and dead people to receive Obamacare subsidies, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog agency.
Investigators created 20 fake identities and tried to enroll them in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans to see if the system would stop obvious fraud. They submitted applications directly on HealthCare.gov and through insurance agents and brokers using Enhanced Direct Enrollment systems.
When the marketplace told them to submit proof of identity, citizenship, and income, they used common off-the-shelf software and materials to create counterfeit documents and sent them in to test the system's controls.
Of four fake applications submitted in late 2024, all were approved for subsidized plans, and insurers were paid about $2,350 per month in total for those fictitious enrollees.
For plan year 2025, GAO created 20 fake identities. While that testing is still ongoing, 18 of the 20 fake applicants were receiving subsidized coverage as of September 2025, totaling more than $10,000 per month in advance premium tax credits (APTC) paid to insurers.
Investigators said they also uncovered tens of thousands of instances in which benefits were paid using Social Security numbers the agency had flagged as belonging to people presumed deceased.
Tens of thousands of other Social Security numbers were also used to "double dip," claiming more than 365 days' worth of benefits in a single year.
"Republicans have consistently prioritized protecting patients and taxpayers by ridding our federal health programs of the waste, fraud, and abuse that ultimately drive up costs for patients," said Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, who requested the probe.
"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.
"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," he added.
Hopes for an extension of healthcare subsidies were diminishing in Congress this week as Republicans and Democrats largely abandoned the idea of bipartisan talks on the issue, increasing the odds that millions of Americans could see sharp premium spikes starting Jan. 1.
Democrats who agreed earlier this month to reopen the government in exchange for a December healthcare vote were hoping they could work with Republicans to extend the COVID-era Affordable Care Act tax credits that help many Americans pay for coverage.
But lawmakers in both parties have spent most of the time since talking among themselves instead, while rehashing longstanding partisan arguments over the law in public.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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