More than 1 million individuals enrolled in Obamacare plans do not possess Social Security numbers, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. The officials announced the figure on Saturday, with Kennedy labeling it a "glaring warning sign for fraud" within the healthcare program.
Kennedy stated that the Obamacare marketplace is "plagued by fraud" due to what he described as the dismantling of "basic program integrity guardrails" by the Biden administration, along with efforts to block "common sense efforts to protect taxpayers." He questioned the practice of "paying people we don’t know if they actually exist."
An estimated 19.2 million Americans are currently enrolled in an Obamacare exchange plan, a decrease from approximately 23.4 million in 2025. Enhanced Obamacare subsidies, introduced under the Biden administration, expired at the end of last year, coinciding with a drop in enrollment from its record high during the Trump administration's first year.
Kennedy and Oz have been actively campaigning against fraud in social spending on healthcare. While they did not specify how many of the 1 million enrollees without Social Security numbers are suspected of fraudulent activity, they argued that existing systems should have identified improper vetting at an earlier stage.
Oz claimed that "rogue agents and other bad actors" have been enrolling "unsuspecting Americans in health plans they never signed up for," utilizing fake identities to collect fees from insurance companies. He alleged that these agents sometimes enroll individuals in plans without premiums, preventing beneficiaries from realizing they have been signed up. Oz characterized the failure to provide Social Security numbers as a "huge red flag."
The Trump administration officials stated they have implemented a "zero tolerance policy" for such fraud and have already eliminated thousands of fraudulent enrollments. Kennedy indicated that the administration is working with insurers to cancel improperly issued policies and recover taxpayer funds paid out fraudulently. Oz issued a warning to potential fraudsters, stating, "If you’re a fraudster, here’s our advice to you: do not walk away from us, run, because we are going to find you."