Trump's $500 health-cost checks reach mailboxes weeks before midterms; critics call them a stunt

Left · 2Checks from the U.S. Treasury, mailed with letters from President Donald Trump, are arriving in Americans' mailboxes weeks before the midterm elections. 1 2 Left · 1The $500 checks went to people in the 30 states that use Healthcare.gov who earn too much to qualify for subsidies, the group hit hardest when the Republican-controlled Congress let Biden-era premium subsidies expire. 1 Left · 1Trump also announced $90 checks for about 20 million people enrolled in traditional Medicare. 1

Left · 2Ellen Allen, who runs the nonprofit West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, received a $500 check near Charleston on Monday and told NPR it seemed a "political stunt"; she said she had drained her retirement savings to pay $1,967 a month for coverage until she qualified for Medicare. 1 2 Left · 1Kathleen Clark, a professor of legal and governmental ethics at Washington University Law School, said the accompanying letters, which tout Trump's record and criticize the Biden administration, "read as electioneering", and that the payments may violate the Hatch Act or be an unauthorized use of funds. 1 Left · 2The money came from marketplace fees paid by insurers and a Medicare improvement fund, neither of which has been used for direct payments before, according to Raw Story's account. NPR said experts doubt the checks will move the needle and say they are likely illegal. 1 2

Left · 1Joseph Antos of the conservative American Enterprise Institute called the move "inexplicable" and said he saw no advantage for anyone, including Trump. 1 Left · 1A White House spokeswoman dismissed the criticism as "out-of-touch", saying Trump "returned their hard-earned money" after Americans were "overcharged" for running the Obamacare exchange. 1 Left · 2A new KFF poll found 42 percent of voters trust Democrats to handle health costs versus 22 percent who trust Republicans, double the gap from April. 1 2