President Donald Trump ’s administration plans to send up to $500 in direct rebates to as many as 1 million Americans who buy their own health insurance through Obamacare without receiving federal premium subsidies, Axios reported.
The administration intends to use about $500 million in excess fees that the White House says were collected during the Biden administration and remained in federal accounts, according to the report.
An administration official told Axios that the money “was over-collected and just sitting there. Officials told Axios that the payments would be targeted at people who purchase marketplace coverage without receiving federal premium assistance. The proposed rebates would not be available to every person enrolled in an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan. These enrollees pay the full cost of their plans and would be eligible for the direct payments under the administration’s proposal.
Why is Trump proposing the rebates before the election?
After the 2024 election, some Republican congressional staffers who had opposed that proposal joined the Trump administration.
Officials said the administration later reduced some fees to lower premiums and found that a substantial balance remained. Republicans in Congress opposed that proposal, arguing that the fees were intended to operate the Obamacare exchanges and that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not have authority to redirect the money. The Biden administration eventually withdrew the plan. The proposal represents a notable shift from Trump’s first-term effort to dismantle Obamacare. Instead of seeking to repeal the program, the administration is now presenting direct payments to consumers as part of its healthcare strategy.
