President Donald Trump is sending $500 checks to nearly a million Americans this week, along with a letter promoting his record on health care.
The U.S. Treasury will distribute the checks to more than 950,000 Americans in 30 states who were enrolled in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, an administration official said. The president’s letter was expected to be sent to recipients on Thursday.
“For years, the Biden administration has overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. That money belongs to hardworking Americans, not the government, and now I’m giving it back to you!” Trump begins the letter.
Trump previously announced plans to send Affordable Care Act rebate checks in early September, saying the Biden administration had overcharged enrollees and “accumulated a significant surplus of funds that were not being used to benefit Americans who were paying these higher premiums.”
The payments will come about a month before Americans go to the polls for the midterm elections. They are also part of a trend of Trump promising cash payments during his second term. The president said this month he would send every American adult a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate in November.
Some families will receive more than one $500 ACA rebate check if multiple family members are affected, the administration official said. The 30 states in which ACA enrollees receive checks use the federal health insurance exchange, while states that are not included operate their own exchanges.
Read the full letter below:
For years, the Biden administration has overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. This money belongs to hardworking Americans, not the government, and now I’m giving it back to you! With this historic action, my Administration is taking excess funds accumulated through Obamacare’s “premium tax” and providing a one-time $500 REFUND to Americans who use the HealthCare.gov platform to purchase their health insurance, but who do not receive taxpayer subsidies to help pay for their coverage. You contributed to this broken system and now you finally get something in return. Health care dollars should benefit patients, not insurance companies or government bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower health care costs, increase accountability, and put patients first. Through TrumpRx, we offer massive discounts on prescription medications for home use, and my Most Favored Nation pricing agreements have already saved Americans more than $1 billion on much-needed medications. We also secured an unprecedented $50 billion investment to transform rural health care, expanded access to health savings accounts for millions of people under Obamacare, and restored price transparency, while eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in our health care system. I’m proud to return your money and will never stop fighting to put the American people first, restore affordability, protect your hard-earned dollars, and lower the cost of health care. May God bless you and continue to bless the United States of America! Sincerely, DONALD J. ATOUT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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