The Trump administration has begun sending $500 checks to more than 950,000 people in 30 states it says were overcharged through the ACA’s federal exchange, according to information an administration official shared with Becker’s.
Five things to know:
1. The Treasury Department released the checks Sept. 30, and letters signed by President Donald Trump are going out Oct. 1, the official said.
2. The checks are going to enrollees in the 30 states that do not run their own ACA exchanges and instead rely on the federal exchange administered by CMS. People in the other 20 states will not receive checks because those states operate their own exchanges and the federal government did not collect user fees there.
3. Texas has the most recipients at 139,000, followed by Florida at 127,900, Ohio at 65,700, North Carolina at 58,200, Wisconsin at 56,200 and Michigan at 55,100, according to administration estimates. Mississippi has the fewest at 2,800.
4. Recipients are primarily people above 400% of the federal poverty level, though the group includes some between 100% and 400% who did not receive subsidies. Some families with more than one affected person will receive multiple checks or direct deposits.
5. The White House said CMS user fees collected under the Biden administration exceeded what was needed to operate the exchanges, and that the Trump administration has since reduced those fees. President Trump announced the payments Sept. 10, which the White House has called the Working Families Obamacare Refunds.
