മെഡികെയർ ഇൻഷുറൻസ് പദ്ധതിയിൽ അംഗങ്ങളായ 2 കോടിയിലധികം മുതിർന്ന പൗരന്മാർക്ക് 90 ഡോളർ വീതം ഒറ്റത്തവണ സഹായം നൽകുമെന്ന് യുഎസ് പ്രസിഡന്റ് ഡൊണാൾഡ് ട്രംപ് പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു. മെഡിക്കൽ പ്രീമിയം ചെലവുകൾ കുറയ്ക്കുകയാണ് ഇതിന്റെ ലക്ഷ്യം. നവംബറിലെ ഇടക്കാല തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിന് മുന്നോടിയായി വോട്ടർമാരെ ആകർഷിക്കാനുള്ള ട്രംപിന്റെ പുതിയ സാമ്പത്തിക വാഗ്ദാനമാണിത്.
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said the US government will send a one-time $90 payment to more than 20 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, to help offset the cost of their monthly medical insurance premiums.
Trump said on social media late on Friday the payments will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, which he said was given $2 billion by Congress to improve the Medicare fee-for-service program.
The announcement is the latest in a series of financial promises the Republican leader has made to voters heading into the November midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.
Trump's Republican Party currently has a narrow majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives but his approval rating has been low over his handling of the high cost of living for Americans during the US-Israeli war on Iran that has spiked oil and gas prices.
The White House released some details, opens new tab of Trump's plan on its website, saying most eligible seniors will receive the payment in the form of a direct deposit of $90 in early October.
Those without direct deposit will receive a check, also sent in early October, to the mailing address they have registered with Medicare, the White House said.
Last month, Trump proposed sending $5,000 checks to all adult citizens if the Republicans keep control of the House and Senate in the midterms, though analysts, economists and even some Republicans in Congress reacted with skepticism to the plan.
The Trump administration is also separately sending $500 payments to nearly 1 million Americans in a move that strategists say could potentially influence some election races.
The White House says those payments were a refund for what it describes as excessive fees charged to people who purchased health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Devika Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong
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Kanishka Singh
Thomson Reuters
Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.