Trump to give $90 to senior citizens for Medicare premiums
By Kaanita Iyer, Tami Luhby, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump said late Friday he will give around 20 million senior citizens $90 each to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, marking his latest effort to dole out funds to certain Americans weeks before the midterm elections.
The funding will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress created in 2008 with $2.2 billion. The White House said “no Administration has ever utilized” the funds.
Not all of the roughly 64 million elderly Medicare enrollees qualify. Low-income senior citizens who also qualify for Medicaid and higher-income enrollees who pay heftier Part B premiums will not receive the $90 payments, the White House said in a fact sheet.
It also appears that the roughly half of Medicare enrollees who are in Medicare Advantage plans — which are run by private insurers — don’t qualify, said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group.
The Medicare Improvement Fund’s purpose is aimed at improving program operations and boosting payments to healthcare providers in traditional Medicare, which is administered by the federal government.
Seniors will receive the payments in early October via direct deposit or mailed check, the White House said.
In his late Friday Truth Social post announcing the disbursements, Trump claimed that his administration has reduced Medicare Part B premiums “by significant amounts.”
However, CNN has previously reported that Medicare Part B premiums jumped nearly 10% ($17.90) from 2025 to 2026 — the largest increase in four years and second-largest hike, in dollar terms, in the program’s history.
Medicare Part B covers doctors’ visits, outpatient hospital services, medical equipment and drugs administered by physicians, among other services. The standard monthly premium is now $202.90, which adds to the strain seniors are facing from the high costs of food, utilities and other necessities.
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.
The $90 check is another preelection effort from Republicans as they seek to keep their majority in Congress amid voter concerns over the increasing cost of living. On Thursday, the administration began mailing $500 checks to nearly 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees.
“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,” Levitt told CNN.
Trump previously pledged $5,000 to every American adult if the GOP wins the midterms — which he reiterated in Friday’s post.
Voters over 65, the age group eligible for Medicare, are the most reliable to cast ballots. In the 2020 election, Joe Biden won the group over Donald Trump by 5 percentage points, according to CNN exit polling. However, fours years later, Trump faced a tighter contest among the bloc, winning over then-Vice President Kamala Harris by just 1 percentage point.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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