Trump to give $90 to senior citizens for Medicare premiums

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

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 .

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 plans, which are run by insurers that provide Medicare benefits to policyholders, cover just over half of Medicare enrollees. 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.

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 .

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

唐纳德·特朗普总统周五晚间表示，他将向约 2000 万老年人每人发放 90 美元，以帮助支付他们的医疗保险 B 部分保费。这是他在中期选举前几周向部分美国人发放资金的最新举措。

这笔资金将来自医疗保险改善基金，该基金由国会于2008年设立，初始资金为22亿美元。白宫表示，“历届政府从未动用过”这笔资金。

并非所有约6400万参加联邦医疗保险（Medicare）的老年参保者都符合资格。白宫在一份情况说明书中表示，符合医疗补助（Medicaid）资格的低收入老年人和缴纳较高B部分保费的高收入参保者将无法获得90美元的补助。

白宫表示，老年人将于10月初通过直接存款或邮寄支票的方式收到款项。

特朗普在周五晚些时候发布的 Truth Social 帖子中宣布了这笔款项的发放，并声称他的政府已经“大幅”降低了 Medicare Part B 的保费。

然而，CNN 此前报道称，从 2025 年到 2026 年，联邦医疗保险 B 部分的保费上涨了近 10%（17.90 美元）——这是四年来最大的涨幅，也是该计划历史上第二大的涨幅（以美元计）。

联邦医疗保险B部分涵盖医生就诊、门诊医院服务、医疗设备和医生开具的药品等服务。目前，该部分的标准月保费为202.90美元，这加重了老年人因食品、水电和其他必需品高昂费用而面临的经济压力。

这项公告发布于联邦医疗保险优势计划（Medicare Advantage）开放注册期开始前几天。这些计划由向投保人提供联邦医疗保险福利的保险公司运营，覆盖了略超过一半的联邦医疗保险参保人。联邦医疗保险优势计划市场正经历连续第三年的动荡，保险公司纷纷退出部分市场，提高自付额并削减福利。

共和党人发放90美元支票是他们在选举前为保住国会多数席位而采取的又一项举措，选民们对不断上涨的生活成本感到担忧。周四，政府开始向近100万名《平价医疗法案》参保人邮寄500美元支票。

特朗普此前承诺，如果共和党赢得中期选举，将向每位美国成年人发放 5000 美元——他在周五的帖子中重申了这一承诺。

65岁以上的选民，也就是符合联邦医疗保险（Medicare）资格的群体，投票率最高。根据CNN的出口民调，在2020年大选中，乔·拜登在该群体中以5个百分点的优势击败了唐纳德·特朗普。然而，四年后，特朗普在该群体中面临的竞争更为激烈，最终仅以1个百分点的微弱优势战胜了时任副总统卡马拉·哈里斯。