$500 ACA Refund Checks In October: Nearly 1 million Americans are set to receive one-time $500 checks linked to Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage. The Trump administration says the money is being returned from extra user fees collected through HealthCare.gov.
The checks started going out on September 30, 2026, according to the administration and recent reports. The total value of the payments is around $500 million. The refunds are being sent by the U.S. Treasury to eligible people in 30 states that use the federal ACA marketplace.
President Donald Trump first announced the plan in September. In the letter being sent with the checks, he said, “You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back,” according to reports on the payment.
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Who Can Get The $500 ACA Refund?
Having an ACA plan alone doesn’t mean a person will get the money. The refund is aimed at people who bought coverage through the federal HealthCare.gov marketplace and didn’t receive premium assistance.
The eligible states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
People who enrolled through states that run their own ACA exchanges aren’t part of this program. The White House says the money comes from a surplus linked to marketplace user fees paid by insurers. CMS set the federal marketplace user fee at 2.5% of monthly premiums for the 2026 benefit year.
The White House describes the payments as refunds of what it calls excess charges. That claim comes from the administration and has also been described by major news outlets as the stated reason for the checks.
No Separate Application is Needed
Eligible people don’t need to fill out a new application to get the $500 payment. The administration has identified the recipients and is mailing the checks to their addresses.
Consumers should also be careful about scams. They shouldn’t pay anyone a fee or give bank details to an unexpected caller or message claiming to process the refund.
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The payments come as ACA customers are already facing higher insurance costs in 2026. KFF reported that the average monthly net premium payment rose from $113 in 2025 to $178 in 2026. The enhanced ACA premium tax credits also expired at the end of 2025.
Trump described the refunds as money being returned to people who paid into the system. He said in the letter, “That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now I’m returning it to you!”
