GAO Report Vindicates Opposition to Obamacare Subsidy Extensions

The enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that were at the center of the October government shutdown were not only made available to people making as much as $500,000 annually but also turned out to be rife with waste, fraud, and abuse.  A December 3, 2025, Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that the advanced premium tax credits (APTC) posed a fraud risk, raised insurance costs, and wasted billions of dollars.  This revelation further vindicates Republicans in Congress for their principled stand against extending these wasteful subsidies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed and President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act which was supported solely by Democrats and included a provision to expand subsidies for Obamacare enrollees to include those whose income was above 400 percent of the federal poverty line.  The continuation of these subsidies as demanded by Democrats before and during the government shutdown would cost $450 billion over the next 10 years..

The GAO report described how GAO tested the likelihood of fraudulent claims occurring by submitting fictitious claims to the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace.  Coverage was approved “for nearly all of GAO’s fictitious applicants in plan years 2024 and 2025, generally consistent with similar GAO testing in plan years 2014 through 2016. …In total, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) paid about $2,350 per month in APTC in November and December for these fictitious enrollees.”  This misuse is still ongoing, with 90 percent of GAO’s fake enrollees still receiving coverage in 2025.  GAO also found that CMS paid an estimated $94 million to households that applied for subsidies using a Social Security number that is associated with a deceased person.

Democrats’ insistence on extending these wasteful subsidies earned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) the not-so-noble title of CAGW’s October 2025 Porker of the Month.  Luckily for taxpayers, Republicans rejected any proposal to extend the subsidies.  GAO’s report cements the fact that their principled stand avoided further waste, fraud, and abuse.