President Donald Trump announced late Friday that his administration will send one-time payments of $90 to more than 20 million Medicare Part B enrollees to help cover their premiums. The payments will be funded through the Medicare Improvement Fund and are expected to go out in early October, according to a White House fact sheet.
Trump announced the plan in a Truth Social post just before 11 p.m. ET Friday. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services later affirmed the plan, stating that 20.8 million Americans are eligible for the $90 premium rebate.
“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,” Trump wrote in the post.
Most eligible recipients will receive the money through direct deposit, while others will receive paper checks from the Treasury Department, according to the White House. The payments are expected to be received before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The standard Medicare Part B premium in 2026 is $202.90 per month, meaning the $90 payment covers less than half of one month’s premium. The annual Part B deductible for 2026 is $283, according to CMS.
Eligibility and Funding Source
Not all Medicare Part B enrollees will qualify for the payment. The White House said that low-income seniors whose premiums are paid by Medicaid, as well as higher-income enrollees who pay an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, will not be eligible.
Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group, told CNN that the roughly half of Medicare enrollees in Medicare Advantage plans also appear not to qualify.
The funding comes from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress created in 2008 with $2.2 billion. The fund’s stated purpose is to improve program operations and boost payments to healthcare providers in traditional Medicare.
Trump described the fund in his post as 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.”
“We are finally using this Fund, along with my Most Favored Nations Deals, to substantially LOWER costs for our Seniors,” he wrote. “I pledged to protect and preserve Medicare and Social Security, which were on the verge of RUIN by Joe Biden, who foolishly and maliciously let tens of millions of Illegal Aliens into our Country, and we are doing just that for America’s Seniors.”
State-by-State Distribution
White House numbers obtained by USA Today show checks will go out in all 50 states. California will receive the most checks at 1.52 million, followed by Texas with 1.43 million and Florida with 1.4 million. New York will receive 1.02 million, and Pennsylvania 905,000.
Other states receiving significant numbers include Ohio with 748,000, North Carolina with 644,000, Georgia with 568,000, and Michigan with 539,000. Smaller states such as Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota will each receive fewer than 100,000 checks.
Criticism and Legal Questions
Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told The Associated Press that Trump has no authority to send money to Americans without approval from Congress.
The Associated Press reported that the promise would need congressional approval, could cost over $1 trillion, and would increase the deficit and exacerbate inflation.
CNN reported that Medicare Part B premiums jumped nearly 10% ($17.90) from 2025 to 2026, the largest increase in four years. Trump claimed in his post that his administration had reduced Part B premiums “by significant amounts.”
Levitt told CNN that the payments reflect a broader pattern. “President Trump seems to have hit on a midterm strategy of using little-known pots of money to send checks to people facing increased health care costs,” he said.
Additional Payments Announced
The $90 Medicare payments are separate from other disbursements the administration has announced. On Thursday, the administration began mailing $500 checks to nearly 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees. Trump has also floated a $5,000 payment to every adult U.S. citizen if Republicans retain control of Congress in the November midterms, though that proposal would require congressional approval and has not been approved.
Trump said the Medicare payments are separate from both the ACA refund checks and the proposed $5,000 “Trump dividend.”
The announcement comes days before open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans begins. The Medicare Advantage market is facing its third year of turmoil, with insurers withdrawing from certain markets, increasing deductibles, and reducing benefits.
CMS stated in its fact sheet that the rebate is intended to put healthcare dollars back in the hands of beneficiaries. The agency said the administration is making the $90 premium rebate available “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.”
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