Trump is sending $90 checks to '20 million wonderful seniors' on Medicare — millions more are being left out

This cash, however, comes with a major caveat.

The White House explicitly stated that “Those whose premiums are already paid by Medicaid or who pay an Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount do not qualify.”

And as it turns out, that’s an even bigger group than those receiving the money.

New Trump payments bypass ‘the most financially vulnerable’

The Kaiser Family Foundation — a non-profit health care research organization — noted that “The 35 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans aren’t eligible” for the $90 payments, “though many also pay the Part B premium.”

And University of California, Berkeley, health policy professor William Dow told Time that Medicaid pays Medicare premiums for many low-income Americans, meaning “that the [$90] payment leaves out the most financially vulnerable people in the program.”

According to Medicaid.gov, 12 million Americans are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare.

When asked about Americans who won’t receive the $90 payments, White House spokeswoman Allison Schuster told Moneywise that Trump is “putting money directly back in the hands of Medicare patients.”

She pointed to “discounted prices on prescription drugs through his Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing agreements, distributing $500 Obamacare Refund checks, and increasing price transparency across the board” as ways Trump is lowering health care costs.

While the Trump administration is sending $500 Affordable Care Act refunds to 950,000 people, FactCheck.org reported that “Neither TrumpRx nor the agreements with drug companies are likely to have been major drivers” of lower prescription drug costs. Instead, the organization pointed to “market pressures,” saturation and a Biden Medicare policy that likely had greater impact.