On August 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services canceled about 315,000 health insurance policies in the federal Marketplace, the one consumers reach through HealthCare.gov. Those policies covered more than 760,000 people. CMS gave the numbers in a press release and a fact sheet dated September 22, and repeated them in an interim final rule, published the next day, that pauses sign-ups by new insurance agents and brokers for 2027.

If you buy coverage through HealthCare.gov, especially with a broker's help, two dates matter: Open Enrollment for 2027 opens November 1, and tax season is when, by CMS's own account, an enrollment you never chose may first come to light.

Two descriptions of one cancellation

The fact sheet says:

On August 31, 2026, CMS canceled approximately 315,000 enrollments covering over 760,000 individuals after confirmation that these enrollments were unauthorized.

The rule describes the same action by the conditions the policies met:

For example, on August 31, 2026, in accordance with CMS' processes for unauthorized enrollments, CMS cancelled approximately 315,000 Plan Year 2026 policies covering over 760,000 individuals that were enrolled with agent or broker assistance without verified citizenship or immigration documentation and for whom issuers were unable to identify claims or establish consumer contact.

In the rule, the enrollments the fact sheet calls unauthorized met three conditions at once: a broker was involved, the enrollee's citizenship or immigration documentation had not been verified, and the insurer could find no claims and could not reach the person. Neither document says how many of the 760,000 were fictitious, how many were real people enrolled without their knowledge, and how many wanted the plan.

The $2.2 billion is in the press materials only. The fact sheet says CMS "expects this will result in a return of approximately $2.2 billion in advance payments of the premium tax credit", the subsidy paid to insurers on an enrollee's behalf. It is an expectation, not a recovery.

What the rule does

CMS-9872-IFC adds 45 CFR 155.220(o), which lets HHS pause registration for agents and brokers without a current-year registration with the federal Exchanges, and uses it at once. From September 22, those with no Plan Year 2026 Exchange agreement cannot complete registration for Plan Year 2027 until February 1, 2027, unless CMS lifts, extends or changes the pause by a later notice. State-based Exchanges and web-brokers are not covered, and a broker whose termination is reversed can still register.

For 2026, 84,012 agents and brokers had active enrollments in the federal Exchanges; 8,937 were new that year, and new brokers enrolled about 490,000 consumers in the 2026 Open Enrollment Period. Without the pause, CMS expected approximately 19,000 new registrations during it. It estimates about 80 percent of 2026 brokers will return, noting "this estimate is uncertain", and says "we do not anticipate consumers will face a shortage of service from agents and brokers."

The case for it, and a number that does not fit

The rule cites more than 624,000 consumer complaints from 2023 through 2025 of unauthorized enrollment or plan switching by agents or brokers, confirmed by issuer review, about 300,000 of them in 2025. It also repeats an earlier CMS acknowledgment that data from early 2026 "already demonstrates a substantial decrease".

In July and August CMS sent 569 Notices of Intent to Terminate. Brokers new in 2026 were approximately 11 percent of brokers with active enrollments but approximately 30 percent of those notices, and their enrollments showed a 2.7 times higher rate of missing Social Security Numbers. The rule concludes new brokers are "about three times more likely to engage in noncompliance".

Its count of completed terminations does not show the same skew:

To date, CMS has issued final terminations to 160 agents and brokers for non-compliant behavior in Plan Year 2026, with 11 percent of them being agents and brokers newly registered in 2026.

Eleven percent is new brokers' share of the active population. The rule does not remark on it. The fact sheet says the response window for 469 of the 569 notices had not yet closed; of the first 100, "66 have already received termination notices." It also says CMS "has sent termination notices to over 200 non-compliant agents and brokers" since January, while the rule says hundreds. None of the documents reconciles 160, over 200 and hundreds.

The rule says the safeguards are not ready

The fact sheet, dated the day the rule was filed, says "CMS has implemented several new protections against agent and broker fraud." It lists four, from renewed identity proofing for every broker to electronic consumer authorization. The rule, describing the same four, says:

In addition to the above actions, CMS is in the process of implementing several new system changes and protections against agent and broker fraud for Plan Year 2027 but those changes are not yet final.

Its reason for skipping advance notice and comment rests partly on that gap: "CMS' additional preventive system controls will not be fully operational before that period begins", the period being 2027 Open Enrollment.

On the authorization step, the fact sheet says "in advance of Open Enrollment, CMS will implement a requirement for electronic consumer authorization before an agent or broker can take any action on an application or enrollment." The rule frames it as something CMS "is requiring approved Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) partners to implement".

The numbers in the rule

Improper subsidy prevented: approximately $48 million to $877 million a year. The high-end baseline rests on a gap in no-claims plans that the rule says "may be an overestimate".
Consumer time saved: approximately $280,000 to $1.1 million a year.
Commissions shifted from would-be new brokers to existing ones: approximately $71 million to $98 million, about $10,000 to $14,000 per affected broker.

Why an unwanted plan can cost you

The rule warns that an undiscovered unauthorized enrollment can leave a consumer facing "unexpected tax liability for incorrect premium tax credits." It says Section 71305 of P.L. 119-21 "eliminated the limitation on recapture of excess APTC", and that for someone ineligible for a full year of the average $674 monthly subsidy, "this liability could be more than $8,000."

A consumer, it says, "may only learn of this coverage upon receipt of a Form 1095-A from the Marketplace at tax time, or upon rejection of their federal tax return by the IRS for not reconciling premium tax credits." The fix it describes is to contact the Marketplace Call Center "to report the unauthorized enrollment, cancel the coverage, potentially initiate a CMS fraud investigation, and request a voided or zeroed-out Form 1095-A".

What to check, and when

Now. Log in to HealthCare.gov and check your 2026 application: whether coverage is active, which plan you are in, and whether an agent or broker is attached. If something is there you did not choose, or coverage you chose is gone, call the Marketplace Call Center, listed on HealthCare.gov as 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).
November 1, 2026. Plan Year 2027 Open Enrollment begins. A broker with no 2026 agreement cannot complete federal registration for 2027 before February 1, 2027, unless CMS lifts the pause earlier. CMS says a broker will need your electronic authorization before acting on your application; the rule says that change was not yet final.
November 21, 2026. Comments on CMS-9872-IFC are due, through Regulations.gov docket CMS-2026-3202 or by mail. The rule is already in effect; it says comments will inform whether HHS keeps, changes or rescinds it.
February 1, 2027. The pause is scheduled to end.
Tax season. A Form 1095-A for coverage you did not choose may be the first sign of an unauthorized enrollment. Ask the Call Center for a voided or zeroed-out form.

What the record does not say

How the 760,000 people were told, or how someone canceled in error gets coverage back. None of the three CMS documents says.
Where the $2.2 billion comes from. No document says whether it is to come back from insurers, brokers or enrollees, or how much has.
Which brokers. The recipients of the 569 notices are not identified. A notice of intent opens a window to respond; it is not a termination, and a termination is not a finding of fraud.
Whether the pause ends on time. CMS can extend it by notice.
The GAO reports. The rule cites GAO-26-108742 and GAO-26-108297 beside its complaint counts. This desk did not read them, and uses none of their figures.