Editorial: Democrats for waste, fraud and abuse in health care

The Editorial Board, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jul 28, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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A slew of Democratic attorneys general has sued the Trump administration over changes to Obamacare enrollment policies intended to minimize fraud. Shocker alert: Nevada AG Aaron Ford is among the litigants.

The new rules make modest reforms to the health insurance marketplaces established in response to the Affordable Care Act. Among the changes are shorter enrollment periods and more stringent verification procedures. The White House estimates this will save up to $12 billion in fiscal 2026 by limiting “improper enrollments and the improper flow of federal funds,” Roll Call reported.

Democrats, of course, accused President Donald Trump of wanting to throw impoverished families into the streets. The White House is doing its “best to make it harder and more expensive for Americans to obtain health insurance and access care,” snorted California’s chief law enforcement official, Rob Bonta.

Ironically, the lawsuit was filed on the same day that officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced they had identified 2.8 million people “either enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program in multiple states or simultaneously enrolled in both Medicaid/CHIP and a subsidized Affordable Care Act Exchange plan.” This included 1.2 million Americans who were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP programs in two or more states and 1.6 million Americans who received government health care while also enrolled in a subsidized Obamacare plan.

The cost to American taxpayers for these duplications is estimated to be $14 billion a year.

The Wall Street Journal noted Tuesday that the Biden administration “banned states from checking Medicaid eligibility more than once a year, though many people need the program only as a temporary safety net.” Under the new proposal, states would be encouraged to check twice a year to ensure enrollment requirements were being followed. This is hardly radical.

“We will no longer tolerate waste, fraud and abuse at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a news release. “With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, we now have the tools to strengthen these vital programs for generations to come.”

Wasting billions on recipients improperly enrolled in multiple government health care programs or receiving improper taxpayer subsidies only diverts funds from those for whom such assistance was intended to help.

Making sure that those who sign up from these programs actually qualify for such benefits makes eminent sense — politically, pragmatically and financially. The fact that Democratic attorneys general, including Mr. Ford, feel otherwise reveals their lack of respect for the taxpayer.

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