The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services canceled approximately 315,000 unauthorized enrollments in the federal health insurance Marketplace, a move that affected more than 760,000 people. The agency said on September 22 that the cancellations, which took effect August 31, 2026, are expected to return roughly $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded premium subsidies. CMS paired the cancellations with new limits on agents and brokers ahead of the 2027 open enrollment season.
What CMS canceled and why
In its September 22 announcement, CMS said the 315,000 enrollments covered more than 760,000 individuals and were canceled only after the agency and health insurance companies confirmed they were unauthorized. An accompanying CMS fact sheet dates the cancellations to August 31, 2026, and says the review followed the agency’s existing process for handling unauthorized enrollments.
The $2.2 billion figure refers to advance payments of the premium tax credit, the subsidy that lowers monthly premiums for many Marketplace customers and is paid directly to insurers. CMS said it expects that amount to be returned for the canceled enrollments, and that it will keep working with insurers to find other suspect enrollments, cancel those confirmed as unauthorized, and recoup past subsidy payments.
“We are shutting down unauthorized Marketplace enrollments and returning approximately $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in the release. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the agency is using “our data, enforcement authorities, and stronger safeguards to identify fraud and abuse, stop it, and recover taxpayer dollars.” The actions were announced as part of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
In an unauthorized enrollment, a person is signed up for a plan, or switched to a different one, without agreeing to it. That can shift which insurer a household is billed through, alter the subsidy calculated for the year, and create tax-time complications, because premium tax credits paid on someone’s behalf are reconciled on the federal return.
When a health plan changes without consent: An unexpected Marketplace notice calls for fast, orderly steps, starting with which office to contact first and what to write down about each call. The first-hour recovery plan and the fraud evidence and report log are part of The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit.
Agents and brokers face terminations and a 2027 registration freeze
CMS tied much of the problem to agents and brokers who help consumers enroll. Since January 2026, the agency said, it has sent termination notices to more than 200 non-compliant agents and brokers. This summer it also issued 569 notices of intent to terminate Exchange Agreements to agents and brokers who submitted 2026 applications without key applicant information, such as Social Security numbers.
The fact sheet says the response window has closed for the first 100 of those 569 notices, and 66 of those agents and brokers have already received termination notices. CMS expects to send more once the response period for the remaining 469 ends.
The agency also singled out agents and brokers who first registered for the 2026 plan year. They handle a small share of broker-assisted enrollments, CMS said, but the enrollments they submit are 2.7 times more likely to be missing Social Security numbers, 2.8 times more likely to have unresolved income verification issues and 2.6 times more likely to have unresolved citizenship or immigration verification issues than those from agents registered earlier.
In response, CMS issued an interim final rule creating a temporary moratorium on new 2027 registrations for agents and brokers who do not hold an active 2026 Exchange Agreement. It has also formed a federally facilitated exchange anti-fraud coordination group that brings together leaders from CMS and HHS and will meet regularly.
New safeguards before open enrollment
CMS listed four added protections. All existing agents and brokers must verify their identity again through Login.gov or ID.me. Every application involving an agent or broker must include Social Security or immigration document numbers that CMS can verify for all applicants other than newborns. The HealthCare.gov system now blocks agents and brokers from being added to applications that consumers should be completing on their own.
The fourth change matters most to households. Before open enrollment begins, CMS will require electronic consumer authorization before an agent or broker can take any action on a person’s application or enrollment. In practice, a broker should no longer be able to switch someone’s plan without that person’s electronic approval.
CMS also said it is expanding data sharing and enforcement work with state insurance departments through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and that consumers will receive tips on preventing fraud as open enrollment approaches.
Why early retirees should check their coverage now
Most Americans move to Medicare at 65, but many people who retire earlier rely on Marketplace plans to bridge the gap, and they often qualify for sizable premium tax credits. That makes the 50-to-64 age group a meaningful share of Marketplace customers, and a plan switched without consent can mean a different network of doctors, a new deductible or an unexpected tax bill when subsidies are reconciled.
The simplest safeguard is to log in to the HealthCare.gov account periodically and compare the plan, insurer and monthly premium listed there with what the household actually chose. Anyone who spots an enrollment or change they did not authorize can call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. CMS directs account and coverage questions to HealthCare.gov and its official channels.
The announcement names no individual households and does not describe a universal remedy for everyone whose enrollment was canceled. Coverage and subsidy consequences depend on each case, so a Marketplace notice deserves a careful read, and the dates and plan names it lists should be saved.
Scammers may imitate the crackdown
A large federal enforcement action can give fraudsters a fresh script. Callers may cite the cancellations, claim a plan was flagged, or ask for a Social Security number to “restore” coverage or release a refund. CMS announced no payment program and no fee to reinstate coverage in this action.
Legitimate changes appear in the HealthCare.gov account and in notices from the Marketplace or the insurer. A request for gift cards, a wire transfer, a one-time passcode or immediate payment by phone does not match anything CMS described. Suspicious contacts can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission, and questions about a specific plan belong with the insurer through the phone number printed on the member card.
A coverage switch nobody asked for
Finding an unfamiliar insurer or premium on a Marketplace account leaves several jobs at once: reaching the right office, protecting identity details and keeping track of who said what on each call.
The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the first-hour recovery plan, the free credit-freeze steps and a fraud evidence and report log, so those calls and notices stay in order while a problem is sorted out.
Start with the first-hour steps in The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit.
This article was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed against the linked official sources.
