Obamacare Fraud Shows Why Real Reform Cannot Wait

A new investigation from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) should be a wake-up call for anyone who still thinks Obamacare is working as promised. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith highlighted the findings in a recent appearance on CNBC, and the results are hard to ignore. Fake applicants were approved. Dead enrollees kept receiving subsidized coverage. One Social Security number was tied to more than 125 different insurance policies. That is not a functioning program. It is an expensive system failing the families who rely on it.

The GAO’s work shows how weak safeguards and complicated rules create an open invitation for abuse. The federal government could not reliably verify who was enrolling, what they qualified for, or whether they were even alive. When the basics break down, taxpayers pay the cost and premiums keep climbing for everyone else.

Americans deserve better. Reform should focus on lowering premiums, expanding access, and giving families more control over their coverage. Real competition and simpler rules will deliver a more affordable system than anything Washington can prop up through subsidies alone.

The GAO report is a reminder that the status quo is not sustainable. Washington can either continue defending a program riddled with errors or get serious about fixing health care so Americans get the affordable coverage they were promised.