Vance defends Obamacare purge, calling 760,000 enrollments ‘phantom’

CMS projected roughly $2.2 billion in subsidy savings, while KFF Health News reported that some people whose coverage should not have been canceled were reinstated.

Vice President JD Vance is standing behind the federal cancellation of about 315,000 Obamacare enrollments covering more than 760,000 people; he called the enrollments “phantom.” Democrats, Vance wrote in an Oct. 16 post, "claimed we were taking care away from real people¹."

760,000

Obamacare enrollments Vance called phantom

CMS said on Sept. 22 that it was canceling about 315,000 unauthorized enrollments covering more than 760,000 people, an action expected to return roughly $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies².2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies. KFF Health News reported that, according to insurance industry sources, CMS has reinstated a small number of people whose coverage should not have been canceled³.

The cancellations came out of a screen CMS ran in June, which flagged nearly 1.2 million enrollments that showed all four of the agency's fraud warning signs. Those signs were a missing Social Security or immigration document number, broker involvement, no monthly premium payment, and no insurer contact or claims. CMS told insurers to try at least two ways to reach each enrollee, such as a phone call and a letter⁴. Policyholders then had 30 days to respond, and CMS disenrolled those who did not³. A CMS spokesperson said a legitimate consumer who was cut off can call the Marketplace Call Center, provide a verified Social Security or immigration document number, and be reinstated⁵.

Vance wrote that fewer than 1 in 10,000 canceled enrollments had led to a phone call or outreach from a real person.

The sweep is not finished: KFF Health News reported that another 419,000 sign-ups are under scrutiny. David Merritt of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said insurers must tell CMS how many of those enrollees fail to respond to outreach by "around mid-to-late November, after the midterm elections³." Merritt also said CMS runs an expedited review for people who discover they were improperly disenrolled⁴.

Vance defends Obamacare purge, calling 760,000 enrollments ‘phantom’

Sources