Tejal Somvanshi
If you get health insurance through HealthCare.gov and signed up with help from an agent or broker, today’s federal announcement concerns you. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) says it cancelled about 315,000 Affordable Care Act (ACA) policies covering more than 760,000 people. Most enrollees are not affected. But the cancellations targeted a specific group, and knowing whether you’re in it matters.
CMS cancelled the policies on August 31, 2026. They were Plan Year 2026 policies on the federal marketplace and state-based exchanges that use the federal platform, where people buy ACA coverage, often with subsidies.
The agency announced the figures on September 22. The Trump administration described the move as a crackdown on “unauthorized enrollments.” Unauthorized enrollment means signing someone up for a plan, or switching their plan, without their knowledge or consent.
According to CMS’s filing in the Federal Register, the cancelled policies shared three traits. An agent or broker helped with enrollment. The enrollee’s citizenship or immigration documentation had not been verified. And insurers could not find any claims or reach the policyholder.
CMS says the action returns about $2.2 billion in advance premium tax credits. These are the subsidies that lower monthly premiums.
CMS says the action is meant to shut down unauthorized Marketplace enrollments and return approximately $2.2 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies.
If you use your ACA plan, make claims and answer your insurer, you do not fit the profile CMS describes. If you enrolled through a broker and haven’t used your coverage or heard from your insurer, log in to your HealthCare.gov account or call your insurer to confirm your plan is still active. People whose coverage was cancelled may be able to re-enrol in the next open enrollment period. This is practical guidance, as the agency’s fact sheet does not set out re-enrolment steps.
Why CMS cancelled 760,000 ACA enrollments
The wording in the federal record is narrower than some headlines. CMS did not say that all 760,000 people committed fraud. It said the policies met the conditions above within its existing process for unauthorized enrollments. CMS says it confirmed these with insurers after review and investigation.
That difference matters. The people behind a cancelled policy could include victims of broker fraud, who never knew they had been enrolled. It could also include real people who were hard to contact. Or it could include applications with no real person behind them. CMS has not published a breakdown by category.
The action is part of a wider push against agents and brokers. CMS has sent more than 200 agents and brokers termination notices since January 2026. In July and August it issued 569 notices of intent to terminate. These went to brokers that submitted what CMS called statistically implausible numbers of 2026 applications without identifying details such as a Social Security number.
CMS has also placed a temporary moratorium on new broker registrations for 2027. It applies to agents and brokers without an active 2026 Exchange Agreement, which is the contract that lets them sell marketplace plans. The agency issued it as an interim final rule with a comment period. That means it takes effect now while the public can still submit feedback.
The cancellations affect coverage for the rest of 2026 and feed into next year’s sign-up season. Earlier coverage sits on our health coverage and Trump administration pages. See also our healthcare section.
The CMS action covers the federal marketplace (HealthCare.gov) and state-based exchanges that use the federal platform. It does not cover state exchanges that run their own separate enrollment systems, or insurance purchased outside the ACA.
CMS cancelled about 315,000 ACA policies covering more than 760,000 people on August 31. It cited broker-assisted enrolments with unverified documentation and no claims or consumer contact. The agency says $2.2 billion in subsidies will be returned. It has also sent hundreds of notices to brokers and paused some new broker registrations for 2027. Anyone unsure of their status should check their HealthCare.gov account.
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