Trump to send $500 ACA refund checks to nearly 1 million Americans

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is set on Sept. 30 to start sending $500 checks to nearly 1 million Americans his administration says were overcharged through the Affordable Care Act's federal exchange for buying health insurance.

Treasury Department checks, along with letters signed by Trump notifying recipients, will begin going out to more than 950,000 Americans across 30 states, according to an administration official.

"For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov," Trump says in the letter, a copy obtained by USA TODAY. "That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I'm returning it to you!"

Trump announced the $500 Obamacare refund checks on Sept. 10 in a video posted by the White House that coincided with the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. The money is separate from a controversial $5,000 dividend Trump has vowed to distribute to all Americans if Republicans retain control of Congress after the November midterm election.

The White House has said 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 Trump administration…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/