ACA marketplace allowed fake enrollees, possible fraud, GAO says

The federal health insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act allowed the enrollment of fake beneficiaries and the payout of accompanying premium subsidies, a Government Accountability Office report published Wednesday found.

The report, which included identity testing, analysis of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services enrollee data and an assessment of CMS’ fraud prevention efforts, found that there could be gaps in the agency’s process to prevent fraudulent enrollment.

As Congress debates whether to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies that keep many enrollees’ costs lower, Republicans have been insisting that fraud in the program has been burning through taxpayer dollars. The report could buttress their arguments that major changes are needed, or at least that prev