Trump pledges to send $90 checks to millions of seniors on Medicare

President Donald Trump promised on Friday to give $90 rebate checks to offset premiums for millions of U.S. seniors on Medicare, his latest pledge to send money to Americans ahead of the midterm elections. “I am pleased to announce that my Administration will, immediately, begin sending ‘Checks’ of nearly $100 to over 20 MILLION wonderful Seniors to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, which we have already reduced by significant amounts,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post. Trump said the money “will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, a pointless ‘Slush Fund’ that has only been used by Dumocrats in Congress to pay for the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse for their Special Interest friends, and drive up Healthcare costs.” The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services affirmed Trump’s plans on Saturday, writing in a fact sheet that 20.8 million Americans are eligible for the $90 premium rebates. “The Administration is making a $90 Premium Rebate available for Part B premiums to certain Medicare beneficiaries because the best way to improve Medicare is to put healthcare dollars back where they belong — in the hands of our Medicare beneficiaries — and make coverage more affordable,” the CMS fact sheet said. The agency said that some beneficiaries will receive a direct deposit for a $90 rebate in early October followed by an email or a letter from Trump, while other beneficiaries will receive a $90 paper check from the Treasury Department later this month. Following that timeline, both payment methods are expected to be received before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The CMS fact sheet claims that Trump is the first president to tap into the Medicare Improvement Fund, which was established by Congress in 2008 to help finance general improvements to the Medicare program. However, the fact sheet also noted that Congress has withdrawn from the fund on numerous occasions to “‘offset’ new spending.” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post that the $90 checks are “separate from the equally substantial Refund ‘Checks’ we are sending to One Million Americans who were overcharged for their Unaffordable Care Act plans by Joe Biden.” Last month, Trump said he would send $500 rebate checks to about 1 million ACA recipients across 30 states. The White House has claimed, without evidence, that the beneficiaries had been overcharged by the Biden administration for exchange fees. The president said Thursday those checks had been sent out to recipients. These one-time premium rebates are also different from the ACA subsidies, which affected people under the age of 65, that the Republican-controlled Congress allowed to expire last year. The healthcare-focused checks this week add to the list of payments Trump has promised to give Americans. In his post on Friday, Trump also again promised a $5,000 dividend payment to all adult U.S. citizens if Republicans win both the House and the Senate in November. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed skepticism about those “Trump dividend” checks, particularly as the president has neglected to give details on the policy that would be required to back up the promise and get it into Americans’ wallets. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC News last month that the funds would not come from taxpayer dollars. In February 2025, Trump also pledged a 20% return to American citizens from DOGE savings. Later that year, he said he would give a “dividend of at least $2,000 a person” from revenue brought in by his tariff policies. Neither of those payments went out to American citizens.