President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will send $500 rebate checks to about 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees, saying the payments will return money collected through excessive exchange fees under the Biden administration.
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The rebates will go to eligible enrollees in 30 states who purchase insurance through ACA exchanges but do not receive federal premium assistance. Payments are expected to begin next month.
“The relief begins with refunding everyone who was overcharged and the rebates are going out in just a few weeks,” Trump said in a recorded White House address.
The White House said the Biden administration collected user fees from insurance companies that were ultimately reflected in consumer premiums and accumulated a surplus that was not returned to those who paid the higher costs.
Trump accused the previous administration of “gross mismanagement” of the program.
The administration has not yet explained whether each $500 payment corresponds to the amount an individual enrollee overpaid, how the payments will be financed or whether congressional approval is required.
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The announcement comes as health care affordability remains a major issue ahead of the November midterm elections. Roughly 19 million Americans currently receive insurance through ACA exchanges.
Trump has made reducing health care costs a significant part of his second-term domestic agenda. Earlier this year, the White House unveiled a broader health care proposal aimed at lowering insurance and prescription drug costs while directing more federal health care assistance directly to consumers.
Democrats criticized the $500 rebates as inadequate after enhanced ACA premium subsidies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic expired this year.
The rebate announcement follows Trump’s pledge Wednesday to provide $5,000 payments to American adults if Republicans retain control of Congress after the midterm elections. That proposal would require congressional action.
