admin
Washington’s latest scandal is something every taxpayer should be furious about — a Government Accountability Office probe found that federal exchanges meant to protect Americans were shockingly easy to game. Auditors were able to enroll dozens of entirely fabricated applicants into subsidized Obamacare plans in 2024 and 2025, and most were approved and remained active, exposing a rotten system that funnels taxpayer dollars to bogus accounts. The scale and brazenness of this failure is exactly why conservatives have been warning for years that Big Government in health care is a fraud magnet.
The GAO also found jaw-dropping red flags: tens of thousands of Social Security numbers used multiple times, and thousands of matches to death records where benefits continued for months, potentially routing millions into the pockets of middlemen and insurers. Independent analysts estimate that billions of dollars in premium tax credits cannot be verified and may have been improperly paid out, translating into real losses for hard-working Americans who see every dollar they earn siphoned off. This isn’t a glitch — it’s predictable waste born from a program that rewards complexity and opacity.
Conservative voices on Newsmax and beyond haven’t been shy about calling this what it is: a national disgrace that proves the ACA cannot be fixed with tinkering and more cash. Steve Moore, who has appeared repeatedly on Carl Higbie’s FRONTLINE, joined other fiscal hawks in demanding accountability and a full rethink of how subsidies are handed out. Senators and conservative lawmakers are responding with real proposals because voters are rightly fed up with Washington’s habit of throwing good money after bad.
Make no mistake: Democratic expansions of subsidies — the so-called COVID or ARPA enhancements that blew eligibility wide open — created the perverse incentives that make fraud lucrative and enrollment abuse profitable for brokers and insurers. When tax credits were extended to households earning hundreds of thousands of dollars and the bureaucracy stopped asking hard questions, the system became a gravy train instead of a safety net. Conservatives warned this would happen; now the evidence is in and the accounting nightmare is undeniable.
The solution is obvious: secure the system, make every enrollee prove they exist and pay a token monthly premium, claw back improper payments, and end the generosity that rewards manipulation. Sen. Roger Marshall’s Marketplace Integrity Act — which would force basic verification and require at least minimal enrollee skin in the game — is the kind of common-sense reform Washington should pass immediately. If Democrats refuse to join the fight against fraud, then Republicans must act alone to protect taxpayers.
We should also use this moment to reassert markets and choice over one-size-fits-all federal control. Rather than pouring yet more money into a broken machine, Congress should restore portability, expand HSAs, and unleash competitive reforms that lower premiums and reduce the appeal of gaming the system. Voters don’t want bureaucratic boondoggles; they want honest, affordable care that doesn’t reward fraud and miscarriage of taxpayer trust.
This is a fight for the soul of our country’s budget—and for the dignity of taxpayers who work for every dollar. Conservatives will not sit quietly as Washington launders billions through a busted program while real Americans pay higher premiums and get less care. It’s time to stop the gravy train, secure the rolls, and rebuild American health care around freedom, responsibility, and accountability.
