US Obamacare Crackdown to Raise Costs for Consumers and Insurers

A crackdown on Obamacare health insurance by the US government may raise costs for consumers and insurers as it removes healthy, low-cost enrollees from the shrinking marketplace.

The Affordable Care Act created income-based government-subsidized health plans for individuals, with 19 million people enrolled. Millions have dropped out this year after extra COVID-19 pandemic subsidies expired.

Vice President JD Vance said last week that fraud contributed to the growth, and the government removed 760,000 enrollees it believed did not exist or were fraudulently signed up by brokers who were unaware of their insurance coverage. Another 400,000 are under review.

Insurers like UnitedHealth and Centene may see profits squeezed as a sicker mix of patients remains in the marketplace. Policy experts said that the changes could impact legitimate members who were simply not using their health plans because they were healthy.