Trump Promises $90 Payments to More Than 20 Million Seniors Ahead of Midterms, After Touting $500 and $5,000 Checks
Key Takeaways
- •More than 20 million seniors will receive a one-time $90 payment toward Medicare premiums, delivered in October through direct deposit or check.
- •The payments will be drawn from the Medicare Improvement Fund, established by Congress in 2008, so they do not depend on a new congressional appropriation.
- •Eligibility rules exclude Medicare Advantage enrollees and seniors already receiving Medicaid premium assistance or income-adjusted premiums, and since more than half of beneficiaries are in Medicare Advantage, a majority will not qualify.
- •The announcement follows Trump's earlier pledges of $500 Affordable Care Act rebate checks and $5,000 payments to every American adult if Republicans retain congressional control, with the latter estimated to cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval.
- •Polls show only 17% of Americans approve of Trump's handling of inflation, even as he maintains that the economy is booming.
President Donald Trump is promising a fresh round of payments to voters just ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections — this time, more than 20 million seniors would receive $90 each to help pay for Medicare premiums.
The announcement was made late Friday night by Trump on social media. It follows the president's statement last month that about 1 million people would receive $500 rebate checks for Affordable Care Act premiums. On the campaign trail, Trump has also pledged to send every American adult a $5,000 check if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
That pledge, which would require approval from Congress, would likely cost more than $1 trillion — adding to the deficit and worsening inflation.
Polls show Americans increasingly blame Trump for the high cost of gasoline and groceries, with just 17% approving of his handling of inflation. Trump has sought to shrug off concerns about affordability, saying the economy is booming.
According to the White House, the $90 payments for seniors will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress established in 2008 as flexible funding to improve program operations and payments to health care providers. Unlike the $5,000 pledge, which would require approval from Congress, these payments would flow from an existing fund rather than depend on a new appropriation.
Medicare Part B enrollees can expect to receive a one-time payment in October, either through direct deposit or by check, the White House said. Monthly costs for the program — which covers services such as doctor's visits, ambulance rides and lab tests — start at around $200 and vary with income, making the one-time payment worth less than half of a minimum month's premium. The October delivery window falls in the month before Election Day.
To qualify, seniors must be living in the U.S. and must not already be receiving premium assistance from Medicaid or paying adjusted monthly premiums based on income, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage, a private-plan alternative to traditional Medicare coverage, are not eligible for the payment. More than half of eligible Medicare have Medicare Advantage, according to healthcare research nonprofit KFF — meaning a majority of Medicare beneficiaries would not qualify for the payment.
Previous administrations have not used the Medicare Improvement Fund in this way, though Congress has periodically drawn money from the fund to pay for other priorities, said Larry Levitt, KFF's executive vice president for health policy. For example, $20.74 billion was used for the creation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
"The Medicare Improvement Fund language is quite broad and gives substantial discretion to the administration," Levitt said.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
