Trump's $500 ACA refunds are coming. Will Arizonans get them?
President Donald Trump said on Sept. 30 he would start sending out $500 checks to nearly 1 million Americans who, according to his administration, were overcharged for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
The $500 Obamacare refund checks were first announced on a video posted by the White House on Sept. 10, coinciding with the Republican National Committee's midterm convention in Dallas. More than 950,000 people in 30 states were expected to receive the Treasury Department checks along with letters signed by Trump, according to an administration official.
The payments are separate from the controversial $5,000 dividend Trump promised to distribute to Americans if Republicans retain control of Congress during the midterm elections, though there is still no clarity about when or how that proposal would be implemented.
"For years, the Biden administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov," Trump says in the letter, which was viewed by USA TODAY. "That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I'm returning it to you!"
The checks, issued five weeks before the November midterm election, come as affordability and the cost of living pose major political liabilities for Republicans as they look to hold on to power in Congress.
Here's what to know about the $500 ACA refund checks.
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Who will get $500 ACA refund check?
More than 950,000 Americans across 30 states will receive the refund, according to an administration official.
The 30 states where some Americans will receive refund checks are states that do not operate their own ACA insurance plan exchanges and rely on federal exchanges administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the White House.
The 30 states 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.
Americans in the other 20 states won't receive checks because their states run their exchanges and the federal government did not collect user fees.
Most recipients are people who earn about 400% of the federal poverty line ‒ $64,000 for a single person or $132,000 for a family of four ‒ but it includes some people between 100-400% of the federal poverty line, the White House said.
Why are $500 ACA refund checks being sent?
The White House has said the Biden administration collected user fees from health insurance companies that consumers paid for in the form of higher premiums ‒ and that the premiums exceeded what was needed to run the exchange. The Trump administration has accused the Biden administration of sitting on the surplus of money.
"You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back," Trump says in the letter.
When will $500 ACA refund checks arrive?
The checks were set to be sent out beginning Sept. 30.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump's $500 ACA refunds are coming. Will Arizonans get them?
