Key Takeaway:
- Trump $90 Medicare rebates are reaching more than 20 million eligible beneficiaries this month.
- Millions are excluded, including Medicare Advantage enrollees and some low-income beneficiaries receiving premium assistance.
- Critics question the timing, saying the payments could be politically motivated ahead of the midterm elections.
The Trump administration is sending one-time $90 Medicare payments this month to more than 20 million beneficiaries, but millions are excluded as critics question the election-year timing.
Payments Reach Eligible Medicare Beneficiaries
The payments are intended to help cover Medicare Part B premiums, which generally begin at about $200 a month and cover services including doctor visits, ambulance services, and laboratory tests. The rebates will cost the federal government about $2 billion.
Most eligible beneficiaries are expected to receive the Trump $90 Medicare rebate automatically through direct deposit, with many payments arriving around Friday. Others will receive paper checks later in October, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The White House says the payments are being financed through the Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress created in 2008 to support improvements to traditional fee-for-service Medicare.
Allison Schuster, a White House spokeswoman, said the administration is “putting money directly back in the hands of Medicare patients.”
The White House announced the payments Oct. 2, shortly before the rebates began reaching beneficiaries and less than five weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Medicare Advantage Enrollees Miss Out
About 20.8 million people enrolled in traditional Medicare Part B qualify for the Trump $90 Medicare rebate if they live in the United States and do not receive premium assistance from Medicaid or pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount.
But less than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries qualify. Roughly 35 million people enrolled in Medicare Advantage are excluded, along with about 12 million low-income older adults and people with disabilities who receive premium assistance.
Juliette Cubanski, director of KFF’s Program on Medicare Policy, said eligible recipients do not need to apply for the payment. She noted that the benefit is automatic but emphasized that “not everybody on Medicare will receive this money.”
Medicare Advantage has become the coverage choice for more than half of the 64.2 million Medicare beneficiaries, making the exclusion significant for many older Americans.
People can contact Medicare to check eligibility, while the Social Security Administration can provide information about payment status.
Critics Question Election-Year Timing
Democrats and other critics say the rebates do little to address broader health care costs and appear designed to appeal to voters before the midterm elections.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called the payments a political effort and criticized the administration’s record on health care costs.
The payments from the Trump $90 Medicare rebate come as Americans face higher expenses for food, energy, and gasoline, while health care costs also remain a concern. Cubanski said the $90 could help recipients but warned that it “might not go very far.”
The Medicare Improvement Fund has been used for other purposes before. During the Obama administration, Congress redirected $20 billion from the fund to expand health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Under Trump, however, it is being used for direct payments to Medicare beneficiaries for the first time.
The administration has also recently promoted a separate $500 rebate proposal for some Affordable Care Act enrollees, adding to the political debate surrounding direct government payments ahead of the elections.
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