Trump Sending Out Checks to Nearly 1 Million Americans – Here's Why
The Trump administration began mailing $500 rebate checks Wednesday to nearly one million Americans who officials say were overcharged through “user fees” for insurance purchased through the feveral Obamacare exchange, healthcare.gov, during the Biden administration.
“For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov,” President Donald Trump wrote in a letter accompanying the checks, The Hill reported. “That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I’m returning it to you!”
The checks will go out to more than 950,000 Americans who enrolled in Obamacare across 30 states.
There are 19.2 million people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, so the rebate applies to only a portion of those who utilized the federal exchange.
Many blue states, like California, operate their own exchanges, and people who purchased their insurance through those will not receive the federal rebate checks, The Hill said.
Those who received Obamacare subsidies are not eligible for the rebates. The 2025 Big Beautiful Bill ended the COVID-era enhanced subsidies in December for those earning over 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Under the standard rules, which returned in 2026, household incomes must generally fall between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for subsidies.
Earlier this month, Trump announced the rebate, saying, “Our Administration is doing the right thing and giving the money back to the people who were wrongly ripped off.”
President Donald J. Trump announces $500 rebate checks to nearly 1 million hardworking Americans who were wrongly overcharged through Obamacare.
“Our Administration is doing the right thing and giving the money back to the people who were wrongly ripped off.” pic.twitter.com/XWA1wlzRH8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 10, 2026
The White House further elaborated on the reason for the rebate checks in a fact sheet released earlier this month.
“The Biden Administration overcharged Americans through Obamacare plan exchange ‘user fees’ that were passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums, funding the operations of the federal Obamacare exchange far in excess of what was needed to run the exchange,” the document said.
“As a result, the Biden Administration accumulated a significant surplus of funds that were not used to benefit the Americans who paid these higher premiums,” the White House continued.
“President Trump is refunding these excess fees to Americans who do not receive premium assistance under the Unaffordable Care Act – and therefore paid the full cost of Biden’s premium tax – in the 30 states that use the federal exchange for the operations of their Obamacare markets.”
These states include 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.
The cost of health care is shaping up to be an important issue for voters heading into November’s midterms.
The White House said, “The Trump Administration is cracking down on fraud and corruption, lowering healthcare costs for Americans, and putting the American people over big health insurance companies after the Biden Administration’s mismanagement of Obamacare resulted in massive levels of fraud, higher costs for Americans, and profit windfalls for big health insurance companies.”
Further, “In May 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to bring the prices Americans and taxpayers pay for prescription drugs in line with those paid by similar nations. As of August 31, 2026, the Trump Administration has reached 26 deals with pharmaceutical manufacturers, covering nearly 90% of the branded drug market.”
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