Vance says ‘fraud’ is rife in using ACA tax credits

Vice President JD Vance said Sunday there is “a lot of waste and fraud” in the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are at the center of the congressional funding impasse that has paralyzed the government.

“The tax credits rightfully benefit some people and we think they actually create a lot of waste and fraud within the insurance industry,” Vance said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“We want to make sure the tax credits benefit those who need them,” he said.

Congressional Democrats are demanding that any legislation to fund the government include an extension of Obamacare’s enhanced subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans, meanwhile, want to pass a stopgap measure that would restore federal funding to current levels until November 21.

The two bills failed to pass the Senate for the seventh time on Thursday, extending the federal shutdown that began on October 1.

With neither party budging on their respective demands, Republicans and Democrats both say the other party is responsible for the shutdown.

About 22 million of the 24 million people enrolled in Obamacare health insurance plans sold on government marketplaces received enhanced ACA credits, which reduces the cost of that insurance.

The enhanced credits were introduced during the Covid pandemic in 2021. They increased the amount of financial aid to enrollees. and also made more middle-income enrollees eligible for subsidies.

Health policy research group KFF recently said the average premium paid for an ACA plan would more than double in 2026 if the enhanced tax credits expire.

Vance on Sunday accused Democrats of “hostage-taking,” telling CBS News there was “a lot of willingness” among moderate Democrats and the White House to negotiate and compromise.

“But if far-left Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, want to shut down the government and refuse to open it unless they get everything they want, that’s not a negotiation. That’s a hostage situation, and we’re not going to reward that kind of behavior from Washington, D.C.,” Vance said.

Earlier Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Democrats “have made it clear repeatedly that we will sit down with anyone, anytime, anywhere.”

“It’s not about the party. It’s about the American people,” Jeffries told “Fox News Sunday.”

“If Republicans continue to refuse to expand the Affordable Care Act tax credits, then tens of millions of people will be poised to experience dramatic increases in premiums, co-pays and deductibles that will result in a doubling, tripling or quadrupling of health insurance costs,” Jeffries said.

He also called the Republican proposal a “partisan Republican spending bill” and said the current spending levels the Republican bill would take up are “unacceptable.”

The consequences of the shutdown have intensified in recent days after the Trump administration began carrying out mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday.

President Donald Trump — who has repeatedly threatened to use the shutdown to cut programs popular among Democrats — said Friday that the layoffs would be “skewed toward Democrats.”

Notices of permanent job cuts, officially known as “workforce reductions,” have been received by employees in the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education, Energy, EPA, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and the Interior.

The Trump administration on Saturday reversed layoffs of workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where hundreds of scientists received “incorrect notifications” that they were included in the mass layoffs, an official familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The shootings were caused by a “problem in the system,” the official said. The affected CDC employees included those who worked on the measles and Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the so-called disease detectives who work at the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

Asked about the canceled layoffs at the CDC, Vance told CBS News on Sunday that “the government shutdown inevitably leads to some chaos” and shifted the blame to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats.

“If Chuck Schumer and the far-left Senate Democrats decide to shut down the government, it will cause some chaos,” Vance said.

—CNBC Dan Mangan contributed to this story.