With Democratic and Republican lawmakers at an impasse, the federal government shut down on Oct. 1, spurred by the need for an estimated $353 billion over a decade to continue providing enhanced ACA subsidies for roughly 24 million people.

Many of those states fear that the additional red tape — especially requirements that would end automatic reenrollment — would have an outsize impact on their policyholders.

The unusual step comes as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is under the gun to curb unauthorized enrollment and switching of Affordable Care Act plans by rogue agents.

Stronger actions are needed immediately to thwart insurance brokers who fraudulently enroll or switch people in Obamacare coverage, wrote Senate Committee Chair Ron Wyden to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.

More than 21 million enrolled in Obamacare plans this year, however, federal regulators are contending with rogue brokers who have signed people up for ACA plans, or switched them into new ones, without their permission.

A lawsuit filed Friday outlines a moneymaking scheme by which large insurance sales agency call centers bought names of people who responded to misleading ads touting free government "subsidies."

After it was discovered that some agents were switching consumers' ACA plans without their permission to garner the commissions, the CMS now mask the first 6 digits of the Social Security numbers on the ACA site.

The HHS rule, which mandates that health insurers not count copay assistance toward out-of-pocket costs, was struck down last fall, however, it is backfiring on patients with chronic diseases that need expensive drugs.