The Trump administration is issuing refund checks to about 1 million Americans, accompanied by a personal letter from President Donald Trump, to people the administration says were overcharged for Obamacare.
An administration official told Fox News Digital that the U.S. Treasury began issuing $500 refund checks to more than 950,000 Americans across 30 states.
Each refund comes with a letter from Trump himself, a copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital.
“For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,” the letter says. “That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I’m returning it to you!”
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“With this Historic Action, my Administration is taking the surplus funds that accumulated from the Obamacare ‘Premium Tax’ and issuing 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 have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back,” the letter continues.
The 30 states don’t have their own Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, and instead operate through the federal government’s exchange operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which charges a “user fee” for services. The Biden administration, according to the administration official who spoke with Fox News Digital, sat on a surplus of cash from the fee.
That cash is now being used for the refunds, and the fees have been significantly reduced.
The top three states for refunds are Texas, with 139,000 estimated to receive the checks; Florida, at 127,900; and Ohio at 65,700.
An estimated 58,200 will receive a $500 refund and letter in North Carolina and 55,100 in Michigan.
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Thousands more will receive checks across Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The 20 states where residents will not receive a check all had their own state-run processes and did not rely on the federal exchange that the administration claims was responsible for overcharging on user fees.
Trump first announced the refunds in September and sought to build on other promises he gave to Americans for checks from initiatives like tariffs and DOGE cuts — neither of which have come to fruition.
The Obamacare refunds apply to Americans who did not receive premium assistance, also known as the premium tax credit, which was supposed to be issued to people who purchased a healthcare plan through the ACA, have an income between 100% and 400% over the poverty line and do not qualify for other government healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
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“President Trump is refunding these excess fees to Americans who do not receive premium assistance under the Unaffordable Care Act – and therefore paid the full cost of Biden’s premium tax – in the 30 states that use the federal exchange for the operations of their Obamacare markets,” the September announcement said.
Healthcare costs are, as always, a hot topic of debate heading into the contentious midterm elections, which will decide the fate of each party in both chambers of Congress and significantly impact whether Trump’s agenda will be unmitigated for his final two years in office.
During the Republicans’ unprecedented midterm convention in Dallas last month, Trump said in his remarks that he would issue $5,000 so-called “dividend checks” to every America adult if the GOP retained control of the House and Senate after November’s election.
While far-left progressive candidates in high profile races — including Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Troy Jackson in Maine — pitch voters on universal healthcare and Medicare for all, the Trump administration has touted its successes in bringing down the cost of healthcare.
The administration official noted to Fox News Digital Trump’s negotiations with 26 pharmaceutical manufacturers to drop the cost of drugs to prices similar to other developed nations. The administration, they added, also expanded access to health savings accounts for millions of Americans on Obamacare through backing the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.