Exclusive: Trump plans to send $500 Obamacare rebates before election
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The Trump administration plans to send $500 rebate checks to as many as 1 million people it claims were overcharged for Obamacare coverage. The payments will be deposited directly into accounts of eligible recipients across 30 states before the November 3 midterm election.
Trump plans to send $500 Obamacare rebates before election
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Exclusive: Trump plans to send $500 Obamacare rebates before election
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!Photo illustration of President Trump holding a check in the shape of a a health care cross
*Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images*
The Trump administration plans to send $500 rebate checks to as many as 1 million people who it says were overcharged for their coverage under Obamacare, Axios has learned.
**Why it matters:** The direct-deposit payment would be sent to people in 30 states before the Nov. 3 midterm election, as Trump touts savings from his tax-cut legislation and prescription drug plan.
* The payments also underscore a tenet of Trump's idea for remaking the health care system, which involves subsidizing more Americans directly for their coverage instead of paying health insurers.
* Trump plans to mention the rebates in his speech Wednesday night at the Republicans' midterm convention, which he's hosting in Dallas.
**Zoom in**: The money for the rebates would come from what the White House says is a $500 million fund of excess fees paid by Affordable Care Act recipients who were overcharged by insurance companies during the Biden administration.
* The excess fees were rendered back to the government, officials said.
* "That money was over-collected and just sitting there" in government accounts, a U.S. official told Axios.
**Between the lines:** Officials say the refunds are available to Obamacare enrollees who don't receive premium assistance under the insurance program.
* Alabama, Alaska Arkansas, Florida, Delaware, New Hampshire, Texas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri were specifically mentioned as states with relatively large numbers of recipients who are due refunds.
**The big picture:** Trump tried and failed in his first term to repeal Obamacare. Now he plans to use it to help further his own plans — and try to boost Republicans' chances in a difficult midterm election shadowed by voters' anger over high prices and the war in Iran.
**The backstory**: In 2023, the Biden administration proposed using the fees from this fund to help provide no-cost contraception for people whose ACA insurance plans didn't cover it, officials said.
* Republicans in Congress objected, saying the fees were dedicated to the upkeep of the Obamacare exchanges and that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lacked the authority to use the money for another purpose.
* Biden administration officials ultimately withdrew their proposal.
**After the 2024 election**, some GOP congressional policy staffers who had objected to the Biden contraception spending plan were hired by the Trump administration.
* The administration then reduced some of the fees to lower premiums, but realized there was a sizable chunk of money left for the rebate program as Trump began pushing a new health care plan, officials said.
* "It's time for Congress to pass President Trump's Great Healthcare Plan, which will finally begin prioritizing people instead of insurance company profits by sending billions in taxpayer-funded health care dollars directly to Americans to help them better afford health coverage and care," a U.S. official said.
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1 hour ago - Politics & Policy
Exclusive: Trump plans to send $500 Obamacare rebates before election
* Marc Caputo
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!Photo illustration of President Trump holding a check in the shape of a a health care cross
*Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images*
The Trump administration plans to send $500 rebate checks to as many as 1 million people who it says were overcharged for their coverage under Obamacare, Axios has learned.
**Why it matters:** The direct-deposit payment would be sent to people in 30 states before the Nov. 3 midterm election, as Trump touts savings from his tax-cut legislation and prescription drug plan.
* The payments also underscore a tenet of Trump's idea for remaking the health care system, which involves subsidizing more Americans directly for their coverage instead of paying health insurers.
* Trump plans to mention the rebates in his speech Wednesday night at the Republicans' midterm convention, which he's hosting in Dallas.
**Zoom in**: The money for the rebates would come from what the White House says is a $500 million fund of excess fees paid by Affordable Care Act recipients who were overcharged by insurance companies during the Biden administration.
* The excess fees were rendered back to the government, officials said.
* "That money was over-collected and just sitting there" in government accounts, a U.S. official told Axios.
**Between the lines:** Officials say the refunds are available to Obamacare enrollees who don't receive premium assistance under the insurance program.
* Alabama, Alaska Arkansas, Florida, Delaware, New Hampshire, Texas, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri were specifically mentioned as states with relatively large numbers of recipients who are due refunds.
**The big picture:** Trump tried and failed in his first term to repeal Obamacare. Now he plans to use it to help further his own plans — and try to boost Republicans' chances in a difficult midterm election shadowed by voters' anger over high prices and the war in Iran.
**The backstory**: In 2023, the Biden administration proposed using the fees from this fund to help provide no-cost contraception for people whose ACA insurance plans didn't cover it, officials said.
* Republicans in Congress objected, saying the fees were dedicated to the upkeep of the Obamacare exchanges and that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lacked the authority to use the money for another purpose.
* Biden administration officials ultimately withdrew their proposal.
**After the 2024 election**, some GOP congressional policy staffers who had objected to the Biden contraception spending plan were hired by the Trump administration.
* The administration then reduced some of the fees to lower premiums, but realized there was a sizable chunk of money left for the rebate program as Trump began pushing a new health care plan, officials said.
* "It's time for Congress to pass President Trump's Great Healthcare Plan, which will finally begin prioritizing people instead of insurance company profits by sending billions in taxpayer-funded health care dollars directly to Americans to help them better afford health coverage and care," a U.S. official said.
*
*
*
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What to read next
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Axios Media Inc., 2026
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Tags:#سياسة أمريكية#الانتخابات النصفية#الرعاية الصحية#ترامب#أوباماكير#الاقتصاد الأمريكي
Source: Axios
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