Late on October 2, 2026, Trump announced on Truth Social that his administration would “immediately, begin sending 'Checks' of nearly $100 to over 20 MILLION wonderful Seniors to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums.” He wrote that the money “will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, a pointless 'Slush Fund' that has only been used by Dumocrats in Congress,” and in the same post tied it to the election: “Because I delivered on this very important issue for the American People, they can also rest assured the highly popular $5,000 Trump Dividend will be distributed to every U.S. Citizen if, and when, the Republicans win the Midterm Elections!” According to a CMS fact sheet, the 20.8 million people in Original Medicare Part B who do not receive Medicaid premium help or pay an income-related surcharge will get one $90 rebate; Medicare Advantage enrollees are not eligible. Most will receive a direct deposit “on or around October 8 followed by an email or a letter from the President in mid-October,” a month before the November 3 election.
The White House said the fund “has been given $2 billion by Congress” and that “no Administration has ever utilized or made payments from” it; CNN put the fund at $2.2 billion. Politico reported that “Money from the fund is generally appropriated by Congress, and not given out by presidential fiat.” Larry Levitt of KFF told AP that the fund's language “is quite broad and gives substantial discretion to the administration,” and told CNN, “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.” Trump wrote that Part B premiums had been “reduced by significant amounts”; CNN reported they rose nearly 10%, or $17.90, from 2025 to 2026, to $202.90 a month.
At an Ohio rally the next day, recalling the $1,776 payments to military members announced in December, Trump said, “Maybe I should have waited a year,” and added, “To be honest, I said that. Should I wait for before the election?” AP reported. The payments follow the administration's $500 checks to Affordable Care Act enrollees, which also went out with a signed letter before the election (see Five Weeks Before the Midterms, Trump Sends $500 Checks and a Signed Letter to 950,000 Obamacare Enrollees, Mostly in Battleground States and Trump Promises Every Adult Citizen a $5,000 'Trump Dividend' if Republicans Keep the House and Senate).
Update (October 7, 2026): The money began reaching seniors as Social Security direct deposits, with some reporting payments or pending deposits on October 6, CBS News reported, citing social media reports. Paper checks from the Treasury carry the message “Medicare Improvement Fund Payment; $90 Payment to Offset October Premium.” The letter from the president that CMS promised for mid-October had not been published as of October 7.
The legal authority has not been explained. The White House and HHS “did not immediately respond to questions about the administration's legal authority to issue the payments,” the Washington Post reported, and the announcement caught congressional offices in both parties by surprise, according to three people the Post did not name. Time noted the CMS FAQ “does not spell out the legal basis.” Criticism has come from the right as well: PJ Media wrote that the law “doesn't specifically say anything about mailing cash directly to beneficiaries,” while adding that “None of this proves the payments are unlawful”; in The Federalist, Christopher Jacobs asked whether checks weeks before an election serve the fund's stated purpose and answered, “In a word, no.” As of October 5, no court had blocked either these payments or the $500 ACA refunds, Scripps News reported, and no investigation or lawsuit specific to the $90 payments has been reported.
Experts were divided on the politics. Northwestern's Lindsay Allen told Time that “Administrations of both parties have previously timed the distribution of benefits to correlate with elections”; Jacobs cited the $250 rebate checks Democrats sent seniors before the 2010 midterms. Berkeley's William Dow: “While perhaps good politics on the eve of an election, these checks are being paid from a fund intended by Congress to improve Medicare operations.” KFF noted that Part B premiums are projected to rise by $79 in 2027, which “would consume most of the $90 payment,” and recalled that in 2020, weeks before that election, Trump promised $200 Medicare drug cards that “were never sent.” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, called the payments “one tank of Trump-inflated gas.”