Several prominent Democratic senators are seeking answers from health plans over the termination of 760,000 people from the Affordable Care Act's coverage rolls in September.
A group of senators led by Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, have submitted letters to nearly a dozen insurers operating on the individual exchanges, expressing concern that they colluded with the Trump administration to boot those individuals out of their coverage.
Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would cancel 315,000 enrollments that included the 760,000 individuals as part of its ongoing efforts to combat fraud. The agency said it would "continue working with health insurance companies to identify and investigate potentially unauthorized enrollments."
In the letters (PDF), the senators allege that "these coverage terminations took place outside of the established process and regulations that govern mid-year eligibility determinations."
"The 760,000 mid-year coverage terminations that took place would not have been possible without the cooperation of insurance companies that have been quietly colluding with the Trump administration on matters related to these improper coverage terminations since at least June 2026," the senators wrote.
For instance, the senators argue that plans conducted "unsolicited outreach" to some of their members, asking them to verify Social Security numbers, when prompted by the White House. A list of individuals who did not respond to these requests was then passed on to CMS, the letters allege.
Insurers complied with the administration's request though it "was not supported by subregulatory guidance" at the time, though CMS did tweak guidance on Oct. 1, after the cancelations had been made.
The senators also contrasted plans' alleged willingness to work alongside the administration with their reticence to conduct additional outreach as it became clear that the post-COVID subsidies would run dry a year ago.
"The responsiveness to this potentially unlawful request from CMS, and the willingness to immediately act and initiate enrollee outreach efforts when asked to do so, stands in stark contrast with decisions made by issuers last year to forgo outreach to enrollees prior to the 2026 Open Enrollment Period," they wrote.
The senators are asking insurers to answer a slew of questions by Nov. 6, including when they were initially contacted by CMS about the potential terminations and how they determined eligibility.
Letters were submitted to some of the largest participants in the exchanges: Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, AmeriHealth Caritas, Centene, Elevance Health, Florida Blue, Health Care Service Corporation, Imperial Insurance Companies, Oscar Health and Molina Healthcare.