Local & Community
CMS Cancels ACA Coverage for More Than 760,000 People Over Unauthorized Enrollments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it has canceled about 315,000 Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollments covering more than 760,000 people as part of a new crackdown on what the agency describes as unauthorized and improper enrollments.
CMS announced the action Tuesday, saying the canceled enrollments were identified through reviews conducted with health insurance companies. The agency said the cancellations involved enrollments it determined were unauthorized and were completed after investigation under its existing process.
CMS estimates the cancellations will result in the return of approximately $2.2 billion in advance premium tax credits associated with those enrollments.
The administration has focused particular attention on insurance agents and brokers. CMS said it has issued termination notices to more than 200 noncompliant agents and brokers since January. The agency also issued 569 notices of intent to terminate agreements with brokers who submitted 2026 applications without key applicant information, including Social Security numbers.
CMS says some of the activity involved applications submitted without consumers' authorization, changes to existing plans without permission or inaccurate information being used during enrollment.
The agency is also temporarily blocking new registrations for certain agents and brokers seeking to participate in the federal Marketplace for the 2027 plan year. CMS said newly registered brokers had higher rates of unresolved income, citizenship and Social Security number verification issues than brokers who had registered previously.
Vice President J.D. Vance has made combating alleged fraud in federal health programs a priority of the administration. CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the agency's goal is to identify unauthorized activity and ensure that people receiving taxpayer-funded subsidies are eligible.
The administration's characterization of the scope of fraud has drawn scrutiny from insurance-industry representatives. The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals said a broad moratorium on new broker registrations could affect legitimate professionals and called for more targeted enforcement.
CMS says it will continue reviewing potentially unauthorized Marketplace enrollments with insurers and cancel those it confirms were unauthorized.
The agency has not publicly provided details on every individual whose coverage was canceled or explained how each affected enrollee was notified.
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By: NBC Palm Springs
September 22, 2026
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