The $1,400 coronavirus stimulus checks that are currently being sent out to financially struggling Americans might just be an appetizer.

It now appears that millions of Americans will be on the receiving end of even more money in a few months—and it will be the health insurance companies writing out the checks.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, private insurance companies are on the hook to eventually distribute $2.1 billion in rebates, thanks in large part to the Affordable Care Act.

The legislation makes it mandatory that health insurers have to spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on health-care claims or quality improvement activities. If they do not abide by the guidelines, they will have to refund a part of the premiums they received.

According to the latest count, nearly eleven million Americans are slated to get some form of a refund. For those who paid for their own health insurance, it is estimated that the refund could amount to about $300 per plan member. For those with employer coverage, it could be anywhere from $100 to $130.

Also, don’t forget that the most recent stimulus payment batches included more than seven hundred thousand “plus-up” or supplemental payments for those who only received partial $1,400 checks on an earlier date.

“This batch includes the first of ongoing supplemental payments for people who earlier in March received payments based on their 2019 tax returns but are eligible for a new or larger payment based on their recently processed 2020 tax returns,” the Internal Revenue Service said in a statement.

“These ‘plus-up’ payments could include a situation where a person’s income dropped in 2020 compared to 2019, or a person had a new child or dependent on their 2020 tax return, and other situations,” the agency added, noting that it will ultimately disburse more than $1.2 billion worth of “plus-up” payments.

Stimulus checks were also issued to individuals who recently filed their 2020 tax returns in order to qualify for the money, due to the fact that the IRS did not have their necessary information on record.

Furthermore, earlier this month, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig acknowledged that the agency will begin sending out monthly payments from the new $3,000 child tax credit in July.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan expanded upon the child tax credit that generally allowed families to claim a credit of up to $2,000 for children under the age of seventeen. That benefit now has been extended to lower-income families who otherwise wouldn’t receive such a credit. Families are now eligible to claim as much as $3,600 per year for a child under the age of six and up to $3,000 annually for children between six and seventeen.

“We will launch by July 1 with the absolute best product we are able to put together,” Rettig recently told the Senate Finance Committee.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.