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We found no documentation confirming a Sept. 29 statement by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that 6 million people unknowingly received health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

Johnson cited a report by Paragon Health Institute, a think tank aligned with the Trump administration. 

The report produced an estimate, not a count, claiming 6.4 million people were fraudulently enrolled in Obamacare. It said they were not income-eligible, including millions who “appear to be enrolled without their knowledge.”

The methodology was faulted by Blue Cross Blue Shield, the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals and the American Hospital Association. 

Paragon stood by its work.

Fraud is much more common among brokers misappropriating patients’ identities than by patients, said KFF Obamacare program director Cynthia Cox and Justin Giovannelli of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

Consumers are cautioned about offers to enroll them in Obamacare.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson: Email
• Paragon Health Institute: The Greater Obamacare Enrollment Fraud: The Fraud Got Much Worse in 2025
• Politico: The think tank driving health policy on Capitol Hill — and dividing Republicans
• Washington Post: As GOP eyes ACA cuts, a conservative group highlights rampant fraud
• Paragon Health Institute: Answering the Critics: How Paragon Discovered Enrollment Fraud in the ACA Exchanges
• Blue Cross Blue Shield: The facts about the individual marketplace
• National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals: Facts Over Fear: NABIP Rebukes Paragon’s Misleading ACA Claims
• American Hospital Association: Setting the Record Straight: Separating Fact from Fiction on Health Insurance Marketplace Fraud
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Consumer Fraud in the Health Insurance Marketplace

Do 6 million people receive Obamacare health insurance without knowing it? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Flooding in Wauwatosa after the August 2025 storm. (Photo courtesy of Erol Reyal)

President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that Wisconsin will get $29.8 million in federal relief funding to support flood damage victims. 

Massive storms brought record-breaking flooding in southeast Wisconsin about a month ago. Preliminary damage assessments conducted by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Wisconsin Emergency Management had suggested that over 1,500 residential structures were destroyed or sustained major damage and total damage costs estimated at over $33 million across three counties. Damage reports had also indicated over $43 million in public sector damage throughout six counties.

Gov. Tony Evers had officially requested a Presidential Disaster Declaration and FEMA funding during the last week of August. His request included access to FEMA’s Individual Assistance and Public Assistance for Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties, which could help residents get reimbursements for costs from flood damage. 

“We had Huge Victories in Wisconsin in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and it is my Honor to deliver BIG for Wisconsinites!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post about approving the FEMA funding. 

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson wrote in a post on X that Trump called him to deliver the news of the approval. 

“Thank you to President Trump for continuing to deliver BIG TIME for Wisconsinites,” Johnson said. He also thanked U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Scott Fitzgerald for helping to lead the push for the assistance.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore had also called for the funding. 

“It’s been more than a month since disaster hit Wisconsin, and families are hurting. I have been fighting for these funds because Wisconsinites need help and they need it now,” Baldwin said in a statement. “I’ll continue to closely monitor to make sure Wisconsin gets everything we need to be on the road to recovery and the whole-of-government recovery effort does right by all Wisconsinites.”

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