Kennedy, Oz Warn More Than 1 Million Obamacare Enrollees Lack Social Security Numbers

HHS officials say the missing identifiers raise serious fraud concerns across the federal health care marketplace.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – More than 1 million people enrolled in Obamacare plans do not have Social Security numbers on file, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced alongside Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, warning that the discovery points to major weaknesses in federal program oversight.

Kennedy called the finding “a glaring warning sign for fraud” in the Affordable Care Act marketplace and blamed previous administrations for failing to maintain basic safeguards in taxpayer-funded health programs.

“The Obamacare marketplace is plagued by fraud in large part because the Biden administration dismantled basic program integrity guardrails, while partisan lawfare blocked common sense efforts to protect taxpayers,” Kennedy said in the announcement, according to the New York Post.

Oz said federal officials are also investigating allegations that rogue brokers and other bad actors enrolled people in health plans without their knowledge, often selecting zero-premium policies so individuals would not immediately notice the enrollment. Officials did not say how many of the more than 1 million cases are confirmed to be fraudulent.

The warning comes as the Trump administration has made health care fraud enforcement a priority, with HHS and CMS previously announcing broader efforts to crack down on waste, abuse, and improper payments in federal health programs.

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