Taxpayers Were Paying Obamacare Subsidies for 189,000 People Who Were Already Covered or Had Died. Make These Checks Permanent
CMS said Oct. 14 it ended Marketplace subsidies for 189,000 enrollees with duplicate Medicare, Medicaid or CHIP coverage or who were deceased, with officials putting this year's savings at $738 million. In our view, routine data checks are basic stewardship, and Congress should lock them into law.
By Clara Hughes
ALTAS WORLD NEWS OPINION | By Clara Hughes, Chief Opinion Editor | October 16, 2026 | 6-min read Imagine paying two insurance premiums for the same person, or paying one for someone who has died. No family would tolerate that in its own budget. Washington did. On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it found 189,000 people this year receiving subsidized Obamacare coverage through the federal Marketplace who either already had Medicare, Medicaid or CHIP coverage or were deceased, and it ended those subsidies [1]. In our view, this is not a culture war. It is a ledger that finally balances. Key Takeaways CMS identified 189,000 federal Marketplace enrollees in 2026 with duplicate government coverage or who were deceased, and ended their subsidies [1]. About 120,000 had Medicaid overlap, about 58,000 had Medicare overlap and about 11,000 were deceased through July, officials said [2][3]. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the 2026 work will prevent $738 million in improper subsidy payments this year; HHS puts potential savings at about $1.5 billion over the next year [1][2]. People flagged get 30 days to dispute and can appeal later; if a match is not disputed, the subsidy and plan are ended, though Oz says no one is losing coverage [1][3].