The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) canceled about 315,000 Marketplace enrollments covering more than 760,000 people on August 31, 2026.
Vice President JD Vance and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced the action on September 22, calling it the biggest single anti-fraud sweep since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) launched.
The agency says it expects to recover roughly $2.2 billion in advance premium tax credits, the federal subsidies that pay most or all of the monthly premium for people who buy their own coverage.
Another 419,000 people are still under investigation and could lose coverage next, according to the administration.
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Who was cut, and why
CMS says these accounts shared a pattern the agency treats as fraud. The person was signed up by a broker or agent and had not filed a single claim.
The entire monthly premium was covered by tax credits. And the person either had no Social Security number, or immigration documents the agency could verify in real time.
Officials say brokers, not enrollees, drove most of the sign-ups, sometimes without the person even knowing they had coverage.
The ACA Marketplace currently covers about 19.2 million people, according to HHS enrollment data for 2026. The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that 2.3 million people received enhanced premium tax credits in 2025 they were not entitled to.
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What affected people can do
CMS has not published a step-by-step consumer notice explaining how the appeal works, when coverage ends, or how people who still qualify can re-enroll before the next open enrollment window.
The agency's fact sheet on the action does not spell out the notification process either.
If you had a Marketplace plan and your subsidy suddenly stops, the first step is to check the messages in your HealthCare.gov account and contact the Marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596.
The broker rules are tightening too
Alongside the removals, CMS is putting a temporary moratorium on new agents and brokers signing people up for the 2027 plan year.
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The exception is agents and brokers who already had an active Exchange Agreement in 2026.
The agency has also required identity re-verification through Login.gov or ID.me, tightened SSN and immigration-document checks, and issued more than 200 termination notices to agents and brokers since January 2026.
Open enrollment for 2027 coverage begins November 1, 2026 on HealthCare.gov.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.