Washington: Vice President JD Vance and senior officials from the Trump administration announced plans on Tuesday to purge 760,000 enrollees from public Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchanges, citing widespread fraud and ghost profiles.

Administration officials asserted that these individuals were either fraudulently registered for coverage or simply do not exist. Vance, who leads an administration-wide anti-fraud task force tasked with curbing federal spending, projected that terminating these enrollments and canceling their associated subsidy payouts will generate roughly $2.2 billion in taxpayer savings.

“We’re actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them,” Vance stated during a public address at the White House on Tuesday.

He was joined at the podium by Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), alongside other administration officials.

Crackdown on Insurance Brokers and Federal Fraud

In tandem with the purge, the Trump administration announced a six-month suspension prohibiting new health insurance brokers from signing up enrollees. Federal officials noted that independent brokers have committed a disproportionate share of the enrollment fraud uncovered during recent investigations.

The crackdown forms part of a broader, government-wide initiative aimed at identifying improper payments across federal healthcare programs, which the White House views as vital for curbing runaway spending.

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Economic Pressures and Premium Hikes

The enforcement push comes as persistent inflation and escalating healthcare expenses place intense political pressure on the administration to deliver cost-relief measures ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

The cost of ACA coverage has risen significantly for many households during Trump’s second term. The increases followed Congressional action by Republicans allowing COVID-era subsidies—which had kept out-of-pocket health insurance expenses lower under the Biden administration—to lapse.

Following the expiration of those subsidies, insurance premiums doubled or tripled for millions of policyholders. The price hikes prompted many enrollees to downgrade to lower-tier plans or abandon health exchange coverage entirely.

According to data published on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website, approximately 19.2 million Americans remain actively enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026.

The initial developments surrounding the removal of exchange enrollees were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The White House referred media queries regarding broader strategy on healthcare affordability directly to the Vice President’s office. (AP)