A new Government Accountability Office report has found that the federal health insurance marketplace approved subsidies for the vast majority of fictitious applicants submitted during undercover testing, highlighting what investigators called significant “fraud risks” within the advance premium tax credit system.
The findings follow a series of political disputes over federal health care subsidies, including a government shutdown tied to preserving Affordable Care Act funding.
GAO just uncovered rampant, systemic fraud in Obamacare, $21B likely stolen just in 2023 alone. At least 58,000 dead people’s Social Security numbers were used to get $94M in Obamacare tax credits in just 2023 and 2024. Obamacare wrongly gave coverage to 99% of the GAO… pic.twitter.com/NJQtPOPqCc
— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) December 4, 2025
GAO investigators created fake applicants and submitted them through the federal marketplace system.
According to the report, “The federal Marketplace approved coverage for nearly all of GAO’s fictitious applicants in plan years 2024 and 2025, generally consistent with similar GAO testing in plan years 2014 through 2016.”
In plan year 2024, all four fictitious applicants used in the test received subsidized coverage, The New York Post reported.
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The applicants were awarded $2,350 per month in total subsidies despite failing to submit “documentation to support Social Security numbers (SSN), citizenship, and reported income.”
GAO expanded testing for plan year 2025 to 20 fictitious applicants.
The report states that 18 of those applicants “remain actively covered as of September 2025.”
The subsidies approved for the 18 active enrollees totaled “over $10,000 per month.”
Investigators also reported evidence of potential misuse of Social Security numbers, including the use of numbers belonging to deceased individuals.
In plan year 2023, one Social Security number was used to obtain subsidized insurance coverage “for over 26,000 days (over 71 years of coverage) across over 125 insurance policies.”
In 2024, 66,000 Social Security numbers were associated with more than a year of subsidized coverage.
GAO compared the Social Security numbers of deceased individuals to those receiving tax credits.
The review identified more than 58,000 matches in 2023, including at least 7,000 people who died before their coverage began.
The report cited a structural issue within the enrollment process.
According to investigators, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows the same Social Security number to be used multiple times during enrollment, creating what GAO described as a major weakness open to fraud.
Republican lawmakers responded immediately to the findings. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said in a statement, “GAO’s troubling report is the smoking gun that shows how this broken system, shielded by Democrat policies, has led to the federal government shoveling tens of billions of tax dollars to insurance companies through identity fraud and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Americans.”
A GAO investigation revealed massive fraud in Obamacare: approving fake applicants, subsidizing dead enrollees, and one social security number with more than 125 different insurance policies tied to it.
It’s a broken, fraudulent system — and Americans deserve real solutions to… pic.twitter.com/JQnuBD3iAX
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) December 5, 2025
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie said Republicans “have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare,” adding that the system created opportunities for fraud, burdened taxpayers, and obscured underlying affordability challenges.
He said the watchdog’s findings support Republicans’ efforts to stabilize federal health programs and improve access to care.
The report has renewed scrutiny on the verification processes within the federal marketplace and on the oversight of taxpayer-funded health insurance subsidies.
In 2023 alone the GAO found over 20 billion dollars in fraud in Obamacare.
Now imagine how much fraud that is over the course of I don’t know let’s say 10 years. pic.twitter.com/nKV6WTHR2J
— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) December 5, 2025
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