WASHINGTON – Nearly 1 million Americans across 30 states are set to start receiving$500 refund checks and letters this week signed by President Donald Trump accusing his predecessor, President Joe Biden, of overcharging them under the Affordable Care Act.
The checks, which started going out Wednesday, Sept. 30, are headed to more than 950,000 Americans who the Trump administration says were overcharged through Biden-era user fees to cover operations of the ACA's federal exchange for buying health insurance.
The rebates, issued five weeks before the November midterm elections, come as Americans' anxieties over high costs and affordability pose major political liabilities for Trump and Republicans as they look to hold on to power in Congress.
Trump to begin sending $500 ACA refund checks to 1 million Americans
The White House says the Biden administration collected user fees from health insurance companies that consumers paid for in the form of higher premiums ‒ and that the premiums exceeded what was needed to run the exchange. The Biden administration sat on the surplus of money, the Trump administration alleges.
Yet the refunds come after the expiration of the enhanced ACA subsidies at the end of 2025 ‒ which Trump and Republicans in Congress refused to extend ‒ and which made insurance more expensive for millions of consumers.
Are people in your state receiving refund checks?
The 30 states where some Americans will receive refund checks are states that do not fully operate their own ACA insurance plan exchanges and rely, at least in part, on federal exchanges administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the White House.
The 30 states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
"For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov," Trump says in the letter going to people in these states. "That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I'm returning it to you!"
About 139,000 people in Texas are set to receive $500 ACA refund checks, the most of any state, according to the White House, followed by 127,900 people in Florida, 65,700 in Ohio, 58,200 in North Carolina, 56,200 in Wisconsin, and 55,100 in Michigan. Several of the states feature closely contested Senate and House races in the midterms.
Americans in the other 20 states won't receive checks because their states run their exchanges and the federal government did not collect user fees from enrollees in these places.
What's the income bracket of recipients?
The $500 refund checks, which Trump announced on Sept. 10, is separate from a controversial $5,000 dividend the president has vowed to distribute to all Americans if Republicans retain control of Congress during the midterms. Democrats have accused Trump of offering a "bribe" for votes, and even some Trump allies have expressed skepticism with the $5,000 offer.
Most people in line for the $500 refund checks earn about 400% of the federal poverty line, or $64,000 for a single person or $132,000 for a family of four, according to the White House. The federal poverty line nationally is currently about $33,000 for a family of four.
Recipients also include some Americans between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty line, the White House said.
Some families with more than one individual who paid user fees to the federal government could be in line for multiple $500 checks.
"You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back," Trump says in the letter hitting mailboxes this week
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Are you getting a $500 ACA refund check from Trump? See where they're going
