President Donald Trump declared that $500 checks will be going out to a million Affordable Care Act recipients in 30 different states — but Pennsylvanians are not on the list to get relief.
During the Sept. 10 announcement, Trump said that he’s distributing the funds to correct “overcharges” that he claims were caused by poor financial management during former President Joe Biden’s administration. The money will go out as many Obamacare enrollees grapple with soaring premiums following the expiration of federal tax credits meant to curb insurance costs.
However, the “vast majority” of the nation’s roughly 20 million Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees will not see the money, according to Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF.
Checks are slated to go out to residents in Texas, Arizona, Florida and 27 other states beginning in early October, just weeks ahead of the midterm elections.
But residents in 20 other states, including Pennsylvania, are not poised to benefit from the one-time assistance.
Why Pennsylvanians aren’t getting money
The funds announced by Trump are only flowing into states that use the federal insurance marketplace for their ACA programs.
Pennsylvania and 19 other states — many led by Democrats — run their own marketplaces. In the Keystone State, the exchange is called Pennie.
Lynne Cotter, KFF’s senior health policy research manager on the ACA, said the federal government has charged insurance companies user fees to cover the cost of setting up and running its online exchange. In recent years, some of this money has accumulated as unspent funding, she said.
Trump appears to be calling this an overcharge and says the excess costs were passed on to enrollees.
He has characterized the $500 checks as an attempt to refund consumers.
However, even in states that rely on the federal health marketplace, only a portion of ACA enrollees will get the money. The funds are slated for families that make more than four times the federal poverty limit, people who no longer receive tax credits to lower the cost of their insurance.
Though details of Trump’s plan are still murky, it appears that people who are lower-income and still qualify for credits will not be eligible for the $500, Cotter said.
How many Pennsylvanians have dropped their ACA coverage?
The announcement came against the backdrop of widespread enrollment declines in ACA plans, as expiring tax subsidies pushed monthly premiums upward and made them unaffordable for some Americans. Congressional Democrats last year fought to extend the credits, but Republicans resisted the move.
The amount of the resulting premium hike has varied greatly depending on a person’s income and age and where they lived. But for the average Pennie recipient, the monthly cost went up by 102%, according to the state.
Cotter said even in states where recipients will get $500, the one-time check still might not offset the impact of the premium hikes.
Since these cost increases took effect in early 2026, more than 200,000 commonwealth residents have canceled their coverage. Enrollment now stands at about 417,000, state data shows.
