US to End Obamacare Subsidies for 189,000 People Found Duplicately Covered or Deceased; $738 Million in Improper Payments to Be Prevented This Year
Washington — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced at a press conference in Washington on October 14 that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will end Affordable Care Act subsidies for about 189,000 people it has identified as ineligible, according to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) release issued the same day.
CMS found that the 189,000 people were receiving subsidized coverage through the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov, in 2026 while also enrolled in another government program — Medicare, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) — or had died while remaining on the subsidy rolls, HHS said. Kennedy told the press conference that when the federal government pays a subsidy for a HealthCare.gov plan, it has an obligation to check whether that payment is owed, adding: "We certainly can't keep paying for people who are deceased." He also said taxpayers should not foot the bill for duplicate coverage.
By category, about 120,000 of the cases involved duplicate Medicaid coverage, CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said at the press conference. About 58,000 involved duplicate Medicare coverage, down from 93,000 in 2024, said Peter Nelson, the CMS deputy administrator who oversees the marketplace. Subsidies for about 11,000 deceased enrollees had been ended through July, and CMS expects to remove another 3,500 by the end of October.
HHS estimated the action will prevent about $738 million in improper subsidy payments this year, a figure exceeding $1.5 billion on an annualised basis, and the government expects to prevent more than one million months of improperly subsidized coverage by the end of the year.
Under the CMS procedure, people flagged for duplicate coverage are notified and given 30 days to dispute the match or cancel the duplicate coverage; the estates of deceased enrollees are likewise given 30 days to respond. If there is no response, CMS ends the marketplace subsidies. Oz said non-respondents default to Medicaid, and Nelson said about half of those notified in the first Medicaid round resolved the match before the deadline and that no one lost coverage. Officials stressed at the press conference that many of those identified do not know they are double-enrolled and typically keep their Medicare, Medicaid or CHIP coverage.
The administration restored duplicate-enrollment enforcement in 2025 and ended duplicate marketplace subsidies for about 551,000 enrollees who were already on Medicaid; Oz said the agency has saved nearly $6 billion. CMS Medicaid Director Dan Brillman said the agency found about 1.2 million people a month who appeared to be enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in more than one state; starting in January, states will be required to regularly obtain and verify enrollee address information, and CMS is building a national system for states to check enrollment monthly.
Separately, Reuters reported that Vice President JD Vance said in September that the administration was halting enrollment for more than 760,000 people believed to have been fraudulently signed up for Obamacare plans, an effort estimated to save $2.2 billion; Oz said at the October 14 press conference that Wednesday's action is separate from the one announced last month.
The government estimated the action would avoid about $738 million in improper subsidy payments this year, more than $1.5 billion on an annualized basis, and was expected to prevent more than one million months of improper subsidized enrollment by year-end. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the action was independent of measures announced the previous month. The White House also posted on its official account on October 14 accusing Democrats of mismanaging "Obamacare" and overcharging Americans, saying President Trump was moving to fix it and return money to Americans.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国卫生与公众服务部总部休伯特·汉弗莱大楼（华盛顿，资料图）。Gunnar Klack／Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0
