Trump dangles $500 ACA refund checks, but legal basis is unclear

Bob covers the money in health care, focusing on health insurance and hospitals. His stories delve into Medicare Advantage, opaque prescription drug benefits, and how much executives actually make. He is also the author of the Health Care Inc. newsletter. You can reach Bob on Signal at bobjherman.09.

Tara covers the business of health care. Her stories focus on hospitals, doctors, and how their business practices affect patients — especially when private equity gets involved. She also writes about health insurance and ideas for improving our broken health system. You can reach Tara on Signal at tarabannow.70.

The Trump administration is promising to send $500 refund checks to nearly 1 million people with Affordable Care Act health plans. The checks will be mailed out starting next month, just before the midterm elections, to many individuals living in swing states. 

The checks will only go to people who don’t receive federal subsidies for their insurance plans, leaving out tens of millions of people with ACA coverage.

The White House said the money will help “Americans most exposed to the higher costs imposed by the Biden administration’s gross mismanagement of Obamacare.” But the payments instead reflect the Trump administration’s decisions to cut funding to help people enroll in ACA plans, as well as Republicans’ decisions not to extend extra ACA subsidies that expired this year.