Chairman Arrington Statement: HHS Uncovers One Million Obamacare Enrollees without Social Security Numbers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) released the following statement after HHS Secretary RFK Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Oz announced that over one million Obamacare enrollees lack a social security number:
“Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Oz are the tip of the spear in President Trump’s War on Fraud. Their latest findings are alarming, but sadly all too common - more than one million Obamacare enrollees don’t have a valid Social Security Number, meaning billions in taxpayer dollars are fraudulently going to insurance companies for evidently made-up patients.
“The Biden administration dismantled commonsense program integrity safeguards and ignored warning signs instead of protecting taxpayer dollars and preserving these programs for Americans in need. Republicans took a major step forward in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but it’s clear our work isn't finished. Reconciliation gives us an historic opportunity to stop fraud, safeguard our elections, support our troops, and deliver relief to hardworking families decimated by the Biden-Harris affordability crisis."
BACKGROUND
Under the Trump administration, program integrity efforts have stopped about 1.5 million enrollees from receiving subsidies they did not qualify for and ended or blocked another 1.4 million through February 2026, for a total of 2.9 million people who had previously been improperly receiving subsidies.
Despite the administration’s work to root out fraud and the One Big Beautiful Bill’s restoration of program integrity to Obamacare, the Obamacare exchanges remain flush with fraudulent and ineligible enrollments due to the Biden administration’s failed “enrollment at all costs” approach. HHS estimates 2.6 million improper and phantom enrollments remain, though experts estimate that number to be much higher. While this is down from the 5.6 million improper, phantom and fraudulent enrollees in 2025, thisamount of fraud remains unacceptable.
Republicans are committed to aggressively rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse to protect Americans from criminals using their information to secure fraudulent payments from the federal government.
