One million Americans will receive Trump’s ACA refund checks – here’s what you can expect

The Treasury Department is mailing $500 checks to more than 950,000 Americans, framed by the White House as repayment for fees allegedly collected in excess of what it cost to run the federal health insurance marketplace under President Joe Biden. Mailings begin Wednesday, and each check comes with a letter signed by President Donald Trump. He announced the program in a White House video on September 10. His letter says Biden's administration overcharged people, that the money belongs to working Americans, and that he is giving it back. Trump officials also accuse the previous administration of holding onto the surplus, according to The Independent.

Only residents of the 30 states that depend on the federal marketplace qualify, among them Texas, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina. The other 20 states run their own exchanges, and the federal government took in no user fees there, so nobody in those states gets a check.

The payments land a few weeks ahead of the November midterms, when affordability is expected to matter greatly to voters. Trump, who is 80 and has long sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, signed by Barack Obama in 2010, faces a backdrop of rising costs. Enhanced premium subsidies ended late last year after congressional Republicans and Trump declined to extend them. A March KFF survey found roughly one in 10 enrollees later dropped coverage entirely, and a June Gallup poll found fewer than half of Americans can reliably afford care.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Independent’s reporting. Read the full story at The Independent →