1M Americans begin receiving ACA ‘refund’ checks, as promised by Trump administration
As promised in September, President Donald Trump’s administration has begun sending “refund” checks to Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees that it claimed were part of an effort to return premiums that the government collected “far in excess” of what should have been charged.
Nearly 1 million Americans in 30 states were expected to receive $500 payments, which the administration said would begin being mailed out on Oct. 1.
According to a report from CBS News, those checks—representing money the White House said should have gone to assist with the cost of premiums in the first place—began arriving on Wednesday, complete with a letter said to be from Trump himself.
"For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov," the letter reads, according to CBS News, which said it received a copy. "That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!"
As to where exactly the nearly $500 million is coming from, that isn’t entirely clear. In speaking to the Associated Press, Cynthia Cox, senior vice president and director of the program on the ACA at KFF, said that the money may in fact be leftover from Trump’s first term, not as a result of overcharges from Biden’s time in office as the administration claims.
According to an administration official cited by CBS, some families will receive more than one payment, if they have multiple people in their household deemed to be an "affected person.”
Most who will get a payment will be people who earn above 400% of the federal poverty line, the same official said.
Overbilled user fees
As for the official story on why the refunds are being released in the first place, the White House said it comes down to user fees that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services charges to the states, which are supposed to be passed on to consumers who buy insurance through HealthCare.gov.
The money is typically used to fund operations for the exchange, but the federal government is saying they collected too much.
As to why these are being returned to only 1 million individuals, that too is not entirely clear. But when announcing the $500 distributions, the White House took a jab at the ACA, calling it the “Unaffordable Care Act.”
HealthExec reached out to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for additional information last month but did not receive a reply.
For more, read CBS News’ full report by clicking here.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.