Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to sound off on Republicans defying President Donald Trump over Obamacare subsidies and defend legislation to denaturalize and deport immigrants convicted of fraud.
A new government watchdog report warns that stronger safeguards against fraud are needed in the Obamacare exchanges to prevent bad actors who serve as agents and brokers in the federal marketplace from making unauthorized plan enrollments and changes to get compensation from health insurance providers.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Monday released a report showing that the number of consumer complaints about unauthorized plan enrollments and changes grew more than fourfold from 2023 to 2025, rising from a combined 66,548 to 299,604 in that period.
The review found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which maintains the federal Obamacare exchange, had insufficient controls to protect consumers from unauthorized activity by unscrupulous agents and brokers.
Among the issues it identified were weak processes to ensure consumer consent for agent or broker actions, a lack of restrictions ensuring that only the agent or broker associated with a consumer’s enrollment can access the consumer’s exchange records, and CMS not informing consumers of all actions taken by agents and brokers.
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The GAO found the federal Obamacare exchange run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services lacked consumer safeguards. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
GAO recommended stronger security controls, including one-time passcodes to verify consumer authorization, restricting access to the broker of record, and notifying consumers when brokers take actions on their accounts.
Some agents and brokers switched consumers into different Obamacare plans without their knowledge or consent, according to the GAO. The unauthorized changes can force Americans to change doctors, lose coverage for medications and pay higher out-of-pocket costs, the report found.
The report also warns that consumers could be hit with unexpected tax liabilities if inaccurate income or eligibility information was used to obtain federal premium tax credits, while taxpayers could end up footing the bill for subsidies paid to ineligible enrollees.
Many consumers do not discover the unauthorized changes until they seek medical care or receive an IRS notice during tax season, according to the GAO.
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President Trump has made rooting out fraud, waste and abuse a cornerstone of his agenda. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Separately, the Trump administration has made health care fraud enforcement a major priority.
A 2024 CMS enrollment-data review identified 2.8 million Americans potentially enrolled in multiple Medicaid, CHIP or subsidized Affordable Care Act exchange plans.
The administration has also targeted Medicaid fraud, putting all 50 states on notice to identify improper enrollment activity and develop fraud-prevention plans.
Fox News Digital reached out to CMS for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
