WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration will send one-time $90 payments to more than 20 million Medicare Part B enrollees in October, using $2 billion from the Medicare Improvement Fund to offset a portion of beneficiaries’ premium costs.
Most eligible beneficiaries will receive the payment by direct deposit in early October, according to the White House. Those without direct deposit will receive checks mailed to the address registered with Medicare.
Most people enrolled in Medicare Part B qualify. Beneficiaries whose Part B premiums are already paid by Medicaid and those who pay an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, or IRMAA, are excluded.
The payments will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress created in 2008 to finance improvements to the Medicare fee-for-service program. The White House said the fund had not previously been used to make direct payments to beneficiaries.
At $90 per eligible enrollee, payments to more than 20 million people would account for roughly $1.8 billion, approaching the $2 billion Congress made available for the initiative.
Beneficiaries can call 1-800-MEDICARE at 1-800-633-4227 to check eligibility. Questions about the status of individual payments should be directed to the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213.
The administration positioned the rebate as part of a broader effort to reduce health-care costs, alongside hospital and insurer price-transparency enforcement and efforts aimed at lowering prescription-drug prices.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 directing agencies to strengthen access to health-care pricing information. A separate order in May 2025 sought to bring U.S. prescription-drug prices closer to those paid in comparable countries.
The White House also pointed to a separate program announced Sept. 10 that it said would provide $500 refunds to nearly 1 million people who had been overcharged for Affordable Care Act coverage.
Trump has additionally called on Congress to enact what the administration calls the Great Healthcare Plan, which it says would seek to lower prescription-drug prices and insurance premiums while increasing price transparency and insurer accountability.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.