If you have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, there’s a new reason to spend a few minutes checking your account before the 2027 enrollment season begins. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it canceled approximately 315,000 Marketplace policies covering more than 760,000 people on August 31, 2026, after CMS and insurers investigated the policies and confirmed the enrollments were unauthorized. CMS estimates that canceling those policies will result in the return of roughly $2.2 billion in advance payments of the premium tax credit, or APTC. The action is part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized Marketplace enrollment and questionable activity involving a subset of insurance agents and brokers. Even if you haven’t noticed anything wrong with your coverage, the scale of the cancellations makes checking exactly what is attached to your Marketplace account a sensible financial housekeeping task. Here’s everything beneficiaries need to know.
What CMS Says Happened to Those 760,000 People
The headline number doesn’t mean CMS simply removed 760,000 legitimate customers from health insurance plans without investigating what happened. According to CMS, the agency and health insurers reviewed suspected unauthorized enrollments and canceled roughly 315,000 policies covering more than 760,000 individuals after confirming the enrollments were unauthorized.
A September 2026 Federal Register notice provides additional detail, saying these were 2026 policies involving agent- or broker-assisted enrollments without verified citizenship or immigration documentation where insurers were also unable to identify claims or establish contact with consumers. CMS says it intends to continue identifying and investigating potentially unauthorized policies, canceling those confirmed as unauthorized, and recouping subsidy payments associated with them.
The Financial Stakes Go Beyond the $2.2 Billion
The $2.2 billion CMS expects to recover represents federal APTC payments associated with the canceled enrollments, not a $2.2 billion bill being divided among the people whose names appeared on those policies. But an unauthorized enrollment that isn’t corrected can still create a serious financial mess for an individual consumer.
In its September Federal Register rulemaking, CMS said the average monthly APTC for HealthCare.gov consumers in 2026 was $674 and estimated that someone incorrectly associated with a full year of subsidies at that level could face an apparent tax liability exceeding $8,000 if the erroneous information wasn’t fixed. CMS also warned that an unauthorized plan could exclude someone’s regular doctors, specialists, or prescriptions, potentially resulting in denied claims, unexpected medical bills, higher cost-sharing, or delayed treatment.
This Problem Didn’t Suddenly Appear in 2026
Consumers have been reporting plans opened or changed without their permission for several years. From January through August 2024, CMS received 183,553 complaints alleging enrollment without a consumer’s consent and another 90,863 complaints involving unauthorized plan switches.
CMS reported in early 2026 that complaints involving unauthorized enrollments and unauthorized plan switches fell 31%, from 180,750 during January through October 2024 to 124,533 during the same period in 2025. The agency also said approximately 250,000 people had unwanted coverage canceled during 2025, while the September 2026 Federal Register notice cites GAO data showing 299,604 consumer complaints tied to confirmed unauthorized enrollments and plan switches on the federal platform in 2025.
CMS Is Tightening the Rules Before 2027 Enrollment
The government isn’t relying solely on consumers to catch questionable enrollments after they happen. Agents and brokers newly registered for 2026 were associated with several higher-risk indicators, including enrollments 2.8 times more likely to have unresolved income-verification issues, 2.7 times more likely to lack Social Security numbers, and 2.6 times more likely to have unresolved citizenship or immigration verification issues compared with agents and brokers registered before 2026.
CMS has also sent termination notices to more than 200 noncompliant agents and brokers since January 2026 and issued another 569 notices of intent to terminate Exchange agreements this summer. For 2027, CMS announced a temporary moratorium on new registrations by agents and brokers who don’t already have active 2026 Exchange agreements, while also adding identity-proofing and consumer-authorization protections.
Check What Health Plan Is Actually Listed in Your Account
One of the easiest protective steps is simply logging directly into your official Marketplace account rather than relying entirely on an insurance card or what an agent tells you. Go through HealthCare.gov if you use the federal Marketplace and confirm the plan, household members, contact information, and enrollment details associated with your account.
Make sure the insurer and plan name are the ones you selected, especially if you recently spoke with an agent, responded to an insurance advertisement, or provided information while shopping for coverage. Also pay attention to unexpected insurance cards, premium notices, emails, or Marketplace documents that reference coverage you don’t remember requesting. Finding an unauthorized enrollment early may prevent months of confusion involving provider networks, prescriptions, medical bills, and premium tax credits.
Don’t Ignore an Unexpected Form 1095-A
Some consumers may not discover an unwanted Marketplace policy until tax season. CMS explained in its September Federal Register notice that someone enrolled by a noncompliant agent or broker might first learn about the coverage after receiving a Form 1095-A or encountering a problem with a federal tax return because premium tax credits weren’t reconciled.
HealthCare.gov likewise tells consumers who receive a 1095-A despite not having Marketplace coverage that an unknown enrollment, reporting error, or potential fraudulent enrollment could be responsible and instructs them to contact the Marketplace Call Center. CMS says an affected consumer may need to report the unauthorized enrollment, have the coverage canceled, and request a voided or corrected Form 1095-A before the tax records are straightened out.
Don’t simply enter figures from an unfamiliar 1095-A onto a tax return because the form arrived with your name on it.
Fixing the Problem Later Can Cost You Time and Money
Waiting until tax season can make an unauthorized enrollment considerably more inconvenient. CMS estimates that dealing with an unauthorized enrollment discovered through a Form 1095-A could require about one hour just to contact the Marketplace, cancel the coverage, potentially initiate a fraud investigation, and obtain corrected tax documentation.
If someone has already filed a return and subsequently needs to amend it, the agency estimates the process could require about nine hours on average, not including potential tax-preparation fees or mailing expenses. The September Federal Register notice even assigns an estimated $216.45 administrative cost to that nine-hour burden for purposes of analyzing the rule’s economic impact.
Be Careful With Health Insurance Ads Offering Perks
Unauthorized enrollment doesn’t always begin with someone obviously pretending to steal an identity. HealthCare.gov’s fraud guidance tells consumers to protect Social Security numbers, bank and credit-card information, account numbers, and personal health information when dealing with unfamiliar people or websites.
It also recommends getting coverage information through official government sources and using enrollment partners approved by the Marketplace rather than assuming every health-insurance advertisement or enrollment site is legitimate. Consumers should pay premiums directly to their chosen health plan and should be suspicious when someone claiming to represent the Marketplace asks for payment information or money. Starting with the official Marketplace gives you a much clearer trail of who should have access to your enrollment information.
Secure Your Marketplace Account While You’re There
Once you’ve verified your enrollment, take another minute to strengthen the account itself. HealthCare.gov recommends using its security-code feature, which sends a randomly generated code by text, phone, or email when you log in and makes account access more difficult even if someone obtains your password.
Use a unique password rather than recycling one already associated with your email, banking, shopping, or social-media accounts. Never give a login security code to an unsolicited caller who claims they need it to “fix” your health insurance, and access your account by navigating directly to the official website instead of clicking an unexpected link. While you’re there, confirm that the phone number and email address used for security codes still belong to you.
Here’s What to Do If Something Looks Wrong
Don’t cancel legitimate coverage yourself just because something in the account looks unfamiliar. Instead, document what you see, including the plan name, effective date, notices, agent information if available, and any unexpected changes, and contact the Marketplace for help determining what happened.
CMS tells consumers who believe they were enrolled or switched without consent to call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596, with TTY service available at 1-855-889-4325, so the coverage problem can be investigated and resolved. HealthCare.gov also recommends reporting suspected identity theft or fraud to the Federal Trade Commission and contacting local law enforcement when appropriate. Acting promptly creates a record that you disputed the unauthorized enrollment and gives you a chance to correct insurance and tax records before the problem becomes more complicated.
A Five-Minute Account Check Could Prevent a Much Longer Cleanup
Most Marketplace consumers shouldn’t interpret the CMS announcement as evidence that something is automatically wrong with their own health insurance. But 315,000 canceled policies covering more than 760,000 people (and $2.2 billion in associated premium tax credits) are substantial enough numbers to justify checking rather than assuming your records are correct. Log in to your official Marketplace account, verify your plan and household information, review unexpected insurance documents, and pay particular attention if a Form 1095-A eventually appears for coverage you don’t recognize. With 2027 Open Enrollment beginning November 1, checking now also gives you time to resolve questions before you’re trying to compare next year’s coverage.
Have you ever logged into your Marketplace account and found a plan, agent, or change you didn’t recognize?
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Drew Blankenship is a seasoned personal finance and lifestyle writer with more than a decade of professional writing experience crafting clear, actionable advice that helps savers and investors over 40 protect their wealth and make smarter everyday decisions. His bylines appear regularly on SavingAdvice.com, CleverDude.com, and other respected outlets, where he draws on deep industry knowledge to deliver practical insights on cost control, smart spending, and long-term financial security.
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