Trump Administration Moves to Remove 760,000 ACA Enrollments in Major Health Care Crackdown

The Trump administration is preparing to remove roughly 760,000 enrollments from Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges, according to reporting Tuesday from The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The action is being directed by the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vice President JD Vance. Administration officials say the targeted enrollments involve people who are ineligible for coverage or, in some cases, enrollments associated with people who allegedly do not exist.

The Washington Post reports that administration officials are also preparing to suspend some insurance brokers accused of improperly enrolling people in ACA plans. The White House had not yet publicly released the full details of Tuesday’s action when the story first broke.

That distinction matters: the administration is alleging fraud and improper enrollment. Those claims should not automatically be interpreted to mean hundreds of thousands of individual ACA customers knowingly committed fraud.

The move comes as enrollment in ACA marketplace plans has already declined. About 19 million people were enrolled through ACA exchanges as of June, according to HHS figures cited by The Post, down by more than one million since Trump returned to office.

The administration argues that tougher eligibility enforcement is necessary to eliminate waste and fraudulent enrollment. Democrats and some health-policy experts have separately warned that Trump administration health-care policies could cause millions of Americans to lose or drop coverage.

Tuesday’s action now puts another major piece of the Affordable Care Act directly in the administration’s sights.

Cup of Culture will update this story as the White House releases additional details, including exactly how affected enrollees will be identified and removed.