Trump announces $90 Medicare premium payment for seniors

US President Donald Trump has announced that about 20 million senior citizens will receive one-time $90 payments to help cover Medicare Part B premiums.

According to CNN, the money will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, established by Congress in 2008 with $2.2 billion. The White House said payments would arrive in early October.

Not all Medicare beneficiaries qualify. Low-income seniors who also receive Medicaid and higher-income beneficiaries paying larger Part B premiums are excluded.

Trump said his administration had reduced Medicare Part B premiums “by significant amounts.” However, CNN reported that standard premiums increased nearly 10% from 2025 to 2026, reaching $202.90 monthly.

The payments come weeks before the US midterm elections and shortly after the administration began mailing $500 checks to nearly one million Affordable Care Act enrollees.

KFF executive Larry Levitt said, “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.”