Trump announces USD 90 Medicare Part B rebate ahead of US midterms

President Donald Trump has said his administration will make one-time payments of USD 90 per person to help more than 20 million Medicare enrollees pay their Part B premiums. The payouts are expected to cost about USD 2 billion.

Less than one-third of all Medicare recipients will qualify for the payment, which is expected to be sent out this week. The announcement, made over the weekend, comes with the Nov 3 midterms approaching and with the cost of living and healthcare expenses among the main issues for voters.

The payments will go to about 20.8 million people in original Medicare Part B who live in the United States, are not receiving premium assistance from Medicaid, and are not paying an income-related monthly adjusted amount.

Those who will not receive the payment include Medicare Advantage enrollees, who account for more than half of the 64.2 million Medicare beneficiaries, according to KFF, a healthcare research non-profit. Also excluded are about 12 million low-income older adults and people with disabilities who receive premium assistance. The Part B programme covers costs such as doctor visits, ambulance services and lab tests. Monthly costs generally start at about USD 200 and vary with income.

According to the Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services website, eligible beneficiaries will receive one USD 90 rebate this month. Most are expected to get a direct deposit on or around Friday, while others will receive a paper cheque from the Treasury Department later in October.

Juliette Cubanski, director of KFF's programme on Medicare policy, said the payment will be automatic. "As far as a benefit goes, people don't have to call or sign up - it's just money they receive directly, but not everybody on Medicare will receive this money," she said.

A White House fact sheet said people can call 1-800-MEDICARE to check their eligibility for the premium rebate. To check payment status, people have been asked to call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213.

The money will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, created by Congress in 2008 to improve the Medicare fee-for-service programme. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the fund was set up to improve programme management and oversee contracts and contractors, although its purpose has broadened through legislative changes over time.

This is not the first time the fund has been used. Democratic President Barack Obama's administration, along with Congress, redirected USD 20 billion to expand healthcare coverage through the Affordable Care Act. But under Trump, this is the first time the fund has been used to make direct payments to recipients.

Critics have described the USD 90 payment as a pre-election move aimed at winning over voters rather than dealing with deeper problems in healthcare costs and administration. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement that "this is another desperate attempt by a failed president to escape Americans' revulsion with his failed agenda, amounting to one tank of Trump-inflated gas".

Trump had recently also promised USD 500 rebate cheques to an estimated 1 million Obamacare enrollees across 30 states, whom the White House said had been overcharged by the Biden administration for some fees. Cubanski said the Medicare rebate payments were being sent at a time when Americans were facing higher food, energy and petrol prices, along with rising healthcare costs. "This might be helpful for people but it might not go very far," she said.

In sum, the administration's plan will send automatic USD 90 payments to eligible original Medicare Part B enrollees this month, while leaving out millions of other beneficiaries, with the money coming from a long-standing Medicare fund and the move drawing political criticism.

With PTI Inputs

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