RFK Jr. Drops Bomb On Obamacare

Social Security cards in front of the American flag

Over one million Obamacare enrollees have no Social Security number on file — and taxpayers are footing the bill for every single one of them.

Quick Take

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz revealed that more than 1 million people enrolled in Obamacare have no Social Security number on their application.
A government watchdog found that 100% of fake identities with fraudulent Social Security numbers were approved for subsidized Obamacare coverage — and most were still receiving benefits months later.
The Department of Health and Human Services has already removed nearly 3 million alleged fraudulent enrollments, with millions more still under review.
Improper and phantom enrollments may have cost taxpayers as much as $25 billion in 2026 alone, according to the Paragon Health Institute.

RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz Sound the Alarm

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz went public with a striking finding: more than 1 million people are currently enrolled in Obamacare through HealthCare.gov without a Social Security number on their application. These enrollees are also paying no monthly premium. Kennedy and Oz called the program “plagued by fraud” and pointed to lax oversight during the Biden years as the root cause.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services flagged these 1 million enrollments as “highly suspicious” because they were all processed through agents or brokers — not self-enrolled by consumers. ^[13] That detail matters. Data from the Paragon Health Institute shows that 16% of broker-assisted applications lacked Social Security numbers, compared to less than 1% of applications filed directly by consumers. ^[6] That gap points squarely at bad actors in the broker system gaming the program for commissions.

What the Government Watchdog Found

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation made the fraud problem impossible to ignore. GAO investigators created fake identities using Social Security numbers that were either fabricated or never issued. Every single one of those fake applicants was approved for subsidized Obamacare coverage. ^[1] Even more alarming: 18 out of 20 fake identities were still receiving coverage when investigators checked again in 2025. The monthly subsidies paid to insurers on behalf of those fake enrollees topped $12,300 per month. ^[1]

The GAO also found that CMS approved coverage even when no documents were requested or when fake documents were submitted. ^[1] On top of that, the GAO identified $21 billion in Obamacare subsidies paid out in 2023 with no evidence that anyone checked whether recipients actually qualified — a basic step called tax reconciliation that was simply skipped. ^[1] The Department of Justice charged two individuals in February 2025 with enrolling ineligible consumers in fully subsidized plans and providing false addresses and Social Security numbers to collect commissions. ^[14]

The Scale of the Problem

The fraud did not start overnight. The Department of Health and Human Services says it has already removed nearly 3 million alleged fraudulent enrollments, with millions more still under review. ^[4] The Paragon Health Institute estimated that improper, phantom, and fraudulent enrollments peaked at 5.6 million people in 2025. ^[13] For 2026, Paragon estimates roughly 6.2 million improper sign-ups — about 27% of all enrollments — potentially costing taxpayers up to $25 billion in bad subsidy payments. ^[12]

Some critics argue that not every enrollee without a Social Security number is a fraudster. The ACA does allow certain lawfully present immigrants and household non-applicants to enroll without one in limited circumstances. That is a fair point. But it does not explain away the full picture. The GAO’s findings show the verification system failed completely — approving fake identities, accepting fake documents, and skipping income checks on billions in payouts. ^[1] Whatever the exact fraud count turns out to be, the system clearly broke down on a massive scale, and American taxpayers are the ones left holding the bill.