WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has begun sending $500 refund checks to more than 950,000 Americans who purchased health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace without receiving premium assistance.
The U.S. Treasury Department began issuing the payments Wednesday, Sept. 30, to eligible people in 30 states that use HealthCare.gov, according to administration officials. Recipients will also receive a letter signed by President Donald Trump explaining the payment.
The White House says the money is being returned because fees collected to operate the federal ACA marketplace exceeded what was needed to run the system.
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Insurance companies that sell plans through the federal marketplace pay user fees to help cover the cost of operating HealthCare.gov. Those costs can be incorporated into the premiums consumers pay. The Trump administration says the federal government accumulated roughly $500 million more than was needed and is returning that money to consumers who bore the full cost of their premiums.
President Trump has blamed the Biden administration for the situation, saying consumers were overcharged and the excess money was not returned.
“For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,” Trump says in the letter accompanying the checks, according to a copy reviewed by CBS News. “That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!”
The payments are not going to everyone enrolled in Obamacare.
The refunds are primarily targeted at people who purchased coverage through the federally operated marketplace and did not receive premium tax credits or other financial assistance, meaning they paid the full cost of their insurance premiums.
The 30 states covered by the program include Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida, among others. States operating their own ACA exchanges are not included because the federal government did not collect the marketplace user fees involved in the refunds.
The White House announced the refund plan earlier this month. President Trump said nearly 1 million Americans would receive $500 each, putting the total value of the payments at approximately $500 million.
The administration has characterized the payments as refunds rather than a new federal stimulus program. The checks are also separate from rebates that insurance companies can be required to issue under the ACA when they fail to spend a required percentage of premium revenue on medical care.
The payments come as health insurance costs remain a major issue for consumers. Enhanced ACA premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, reducing financial assistance for some marketplace customers and increasing what many households pay for coverage. Critics of the administration’s $500 refund program argue that the one-time payments do not offset the larger premium increases some ACA customers have faced.
The administration says eligible recipients have already been identified, meaning consumers do not need to apply for the $500 refund.