With the midterms just a few weeks away, the Trump administration has sent $500 checks to individuals that are enrolled on the Healthcare.gov website, a website that is used to select a health insurance policy provider. 30 U.S. states have this site as an option for people who are shopping for a health insurance policy.
Ellen Allen, aged 65, is one of the people who received these checks. She resides in West Virginia, one of those 30 states in which the Healthcare.gov site is available. She says she was surprised to receive the check, but adds that the amount is too little to have any effect on the healthcare costs she faces.
Not every American adult is eligible to receive the $500 check. The Healthcare.gov website is used by individuals that earn at least $64,000 each year, and as already indicated, only 30 states in the country have this option as a marketplace for health insurance.
Of more concern to Allen was the letter that accompanied the check. The letter, written by Trump, praises the current administration’s policy actions in the healthcare sector and goes a step further to criticize Biden’s administration. Allen sees that letter, and the check it accompanied, as a political stunt geared at luring voters to vote Republican during the midterms that are just weeks away.
For Allen, the check would cover just one quarter of her monthly health insurance premium, so it is hardly significant enough to dent the overall cost of her health insurance policy. She says if the administration was really concerned about healthcare, it would take steps to make healthcare affordable rather than sending people random checks.
Kathleen Clarke, a professor at the law school of Washington University, says those checks sent out strongly appear to be electioneering acts, and as such, are explicitly prohibited by American law. She cites the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits the use of federal money and power with the intention of influencing partisan political elections.
Clarke also says that the use of federal funds in that way is unlikely to have been done after obtaining Congressional approval, which would also make those payments potentially unlawful.
The $500 checks come at a time when another check of $90 is due to be sent to approximately 20 million Medicare enrollees. This group excludes individuals having Medicare Advantage coverage. Again, the amount involved is too small to have any meaningful effect, so it is largely being viewed as an attempt to cozy up to voters just before the midterms.
For entities like Astiva Health serving vulnerable communities, what would really move the needle is to enact policies that make healthcare more affordable for all Americans.
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