Trump administration sends $90 payments to nearly 21 million seniors

Nearly 21 million American seniors woke up to an extra $90 on Thursday, or will find it in the mailbox soon, in the Trump administration's latest direct distribution of government money before the midterm election.

The administration issued about 20 million direct deposits of $90 and mailed 875,000 paper checks of the same amount, a White House official confirmed. Recipients got emails with the subject line "A message from President Trump" telling them the money would offset some of the cost of their October Medicare premium. Trump is financing the payments by diverting revenue from the $2 billion Medicare Improvement Fund, which Congress created in 2008 to improve Medicare services. No administration had ever used the fund to send checks directly to beneficiaries before.

Most Medicare Part B enrollees qualify. Those whose premiums are already paid by Medicaid do not, nor do higher income enrollees who pay an income related monthly surcharge, and people in Medicare Advantage plans appear to be excluded as well.

The $90 payments are part of a pattern. Last week the administration started sending $500 checks to nearly 1 million Americans in 30 states who it says were overcharged in fees through the Affordable Care Act's federal exchange. Trump has also promised to send $5,000 dividend checks to every American adult if Republicans hold the House and Senate in the midterms.

Democrats called the senior payments an election stunt. The timing is hard to miss: the election is November 3, voters rank the cost of living as their top concern, and a September survey found 54 percent of rural voters disapproved of Trump's handling of health care. The White House says Trump is simply putting health care dollars back in the hands of the American people instead of special interests.