Remember how Democrats shut the government down to squeeze out three more years of Obamacare subsidies for illegal aliens? Well, a fresh report from the Government Accountability Office throws a harsh spotlight on what they were really defending. Investigators set up fake applicants and let the federal marketplace do its thing. The system welcomed them with open arms. Officials approved subsidies for 90% of those phantoms. That’s a hit rate that would make any scam artist proud.
GAO agents went undercover and flagged serious “fraud risks” in the advance premium tax credits. Their findings reveal the true prize Democrats fought to protect: a subsidy machine that sprays tax dollars at people who exist only on paper.
“The federal Marketplace approved coverage for nearly all of GAO’s fictitious applicants in plan years 2024 and 2025, generally consistent with similar GAO testing in plan years 2014 through 2016,” the government watchdog explained.
The New York Post has more:
In plan year 2024, all four of GAO’s fake applicants received coverage with lower monthly premiums – thanks to $2,350 per month in Obamacare subsidies granted to insurers – despite not submitting “documentation to support Social Security numbers (SSN), citizenship, and reported income.”
The GAO upped the number of fake applicants to 20 in plan year 2025 and 18 still “remain actively covered as of September 2025.”
The subsidies that the 18 fake enrollees were approved for totaled “over $10,000 per month.”
Evidence of potential “misuse” of Social Security numbers, including dead people receiving coverage, was also discovered by the GAO.
In plan year 2023 alone, one Social Security number was used to receive subsidized insurance coverage “for over 26,000 days (over 71 years of coverage) across over 125 insurance policies.”
In 2024, 66,000 Social Security numbers were linked to more than a years’ worth of subsidized coverage.
GAO also compared Social Security numbers of the deceased to those that received tax credits and in 2023 and identified over 58,000 matches, including at least 7,000 people who died before coverage began.
Investigators exposed a major weakness inside the Obamacare scheme. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allows the same Social Security number to run through the enrollment process multiple times. In other words, it was designed for fraud.
Republican leaders immediately seized on the report. They said the findings confirmed everything they had argued for years. “GAO’s troubling report is the smoking gun that shows how this broken system, shielded by Democrat policies, has led to the federal government shoveling tens of billions of tax dollars to insurance companies through identity fraud and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Americans,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said in a statement.
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Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) stressed that Republicans “have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare,” arguing that Democrats’ attempts to keep the law afloat created more fraud, punished taxpayers, and hid the real affordability crisis. He said the watchdog’s findings show why Republicans’ work to stabilize federal health programs matters, calling their reforms essential so Americans can finally get reliable care at prices that make sense.
This fraud didn’t happen by accident. It’s a feature, not a bug, of the Democrats’ healthcare disaster. Republicans are finally exposing how Obamacare burns taxpayer dollars while Democrats defend the indefensible. Support fearless conservative journalism by joining PJ Media VIP today. Use promo code FIGHT for 60% off and help keep us alive in the fight for truth. Don’t wait — join today.
