WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday nearly 1 million Americans enrolled under Obamacare plans will receive $500 payments as the Trump administration moves to refund excess fees charged through the federal marketplace.
Checks will be sent to eligible Americans starting October. President Donald Trump has also proposed to pay every U.S. adult a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if his party wins the November congressional elections, at a time when opinion polls show his popularity at an all-time low with broad majorities dissatisfied with the Iran war and the U.S. economy.
Obamacare plans, created by former President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, are subsidized based on income.
The White House said the Biden Administration overcharged Americans through Obamacare plan exchange “user fees” that were passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.
“In many cases, these refunds will cover the entire spike in your insurance caused by Democrats, who solely work to protect big insurance companies,” Trump said in a video posted by the White House on social media platform X.
“Our administration is doing the right thing and giving the money back to the people who were wrongly ripped off.”
The refunds would go to consumers in 30 states who do not receive premium subsidies and purchased coverage through the federal marketplace, called Healthcare.gov, where people sign up for the plans.
The states, many of which are Republican-led, 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.
Healthcare costs have increased for the subsidized plans after Congress allowed COVID-19-era tax credits to expire.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Affordable Care Act.
The administration has previously proposed new Obamacare rules for 2027, allowing insurers to offer new kinds of long-term catastrophic policies, plans with low premiums but significantly higher out-of-pocket costs that would be used to cover major medical expenses.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Daphne Psaledakis and Sriparna Roy; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Diti Pujara and Devika Syamnath)
