Earlier this year, when Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began reporting on massive amounts of fraud in our social programs, the Democrats scoffed at him. They ran before any camera they could find to claim breathlessly that Musk was going to take away Social Security and leave Grandma out in the cold.
That's not true, of course. Musk and DOGE were trying to not only save America from fiscal ruin, but to make these programs sustainable for the people who actually need and paid into them — the American taxpayers.
Democrats, on the other hand, seem to view those programs as ones that are not only open to non-Americans but also sources of massive fraud that enrich Somali immigrants and support Islamic terrorism in Africa. The blunt reality is this: America is going to go broke if we don't control spending, and control it soon.
Stopping widespread fraud is a good first step to controlling spending, and there's massive fraud in Social Security and subsidized healthcare, according to a watchdog investigation.
BOMBSHELL: A new watchdog investigation found large-scale systemic failures that allow fake identities, dead people, and massive improper use of Social Security numbers to receive Obamacare subsidies.
— Rep. Jason Smith (@RepJasonSmith) December 3, 2025
GAO conducted covert operations which included creating fictitious identities.…
The entire post reads:
GAO conducted covert operations which included creating fictitious identities. In fact, 100% of fake applicants were approved by Obamacare's marketplace as recently as late 2024. 90% of fake applicants continue to receive coverage in 2025.
The result: Wasteful federal spending on subsidies for enrollees who are not eligible. Harm and unexpected costs for consumers. Loss of access to medical providers and medications, higher copays and deductibles, or forced repayment.
Recommended
Specifically, one Social Security number was repeatedly used to get subsidized healthcare for more than 70 people, and authorities just couldn't be bothered to figure out who the real person was.
Good Lord…
— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) December 3, 2025
They found one Social Security number was being used to get subsidized healthcare for SEVENTY-ONE DIFFERENT PEOPLE and when they asked the people in charge about it they just said they didn’t feel like figuring out which person was the real one. https://t.co/sujExP7EZI pic.twitter.com/I717Fkramn
Here's what the report says:
One issue that can hinder reconciliation of APTC through tax filing is use of an SSN that does not belong to the enrollee. Our preliminary analysis of federal Marketplace data identified over 29,000 SSNs (0.21 percent of SSNs that received APTC) with more than 365 days of insurance coverage with APTC in plan year 2023. For example, the most frequently used SSN in plan year 2023 was used to receive subsidized insurance coverage for over 26,000 days (over 71 years of coverage) across over 125 insurance policies. Further, our preliminary analysis identified nearly 66,000 SSNs (0.37 percent of SSNs that received APTC) with more than 366 days of insurance coverage with APTC in plan year 2024.⁽³⁶⁾ This overuse can occur because of identity theft and synthetic identity fraud, as well as data entry errors.⁽³⁷⁾ Given complexities around identifying the true SSN-holder, we are further examining these cases and other instances of apparently overlapping coverage as part of our ongoing work.
According to CMS officials, the federal Marketplace does not prohibit new enrollments that use an SSN that is already enrolled. They further explained this is done to help ensure that the actual SSN-holder can enroll in insurance coverage in cases of identity theft or data entry errors. These officials told us that the federal Marketplace uses a logic model that analyzes various elements of personally identifiable information to distinguish individual applicants and enrollees. They added that they apply this model on a monthly basis to deduplicate enrollments. Further, applications with SSNs already enrolled should be addressed through CMS’s existing data matching inconsistency processes, where applicants provide documentation to support application information that could not be originally verified.
For example, enrollees with these overused SSNs should be identified through CMS’s existing data matching inconsistency processes and required to submit documentation to substantiate their SSNs. This is because multiple identities with different personally identifiable information will not match SSA records for the same SSN. However, our analyses and identification of enrollments with these overused SSNs suggests that the data matching inconsistency processes may not always function as expected. We are reviewing the federal Marketplace’s data matching inconsistency processes, including overused SSNs, as part of our ongoing work.
In the age of computers and AI, there's no reason officials can't identify the real person and cut off the fraudsters. It's laziness and apathy.
And it gets worse.
To make matters worse, remember the ObamaCare tax credits that were supposedly going to cover the plan premiums for low income people?
— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) December 3, 2025
Well, it turns out that there is ZERO income verification. They just give you the tax credit plan even if you provide NO information at all. pic.twitter.com/qOhRtpA3E5
This is absolutely incredible.
But it’s a friggen Constitutional Crisis to ask the States to audit SNAP recipients of Federal Funds.
— NOfP-X (@NOfPPlus) December 4, 2025
Make it all make sense!
That's what the Democrats tell us.
Jesus, what next? Social Security officials dressing up like Heath Ledger's Joker and lighting piles of money on fire?
— Vince Lyle (@VinceLyle2161) December 4, 2025
At least that would be entertaining and honest.
The goal of the program was to boost coverage numbers. Using taxpayers’ money judiciously was, apparently, not on the radar. https://t.co/0EMqilRrxo
— Patrick McIlheran (@PaddyMacMke) December 3, 2025
Using taxpayers' money judiciously is never on the radar.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
Help us continue to report on President Trump's successes. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member