HCTC is similar to the COBRA subsidy expiring August 31, 2011. It pays 65% of your health insurance costs. Eligibility Certificate to confirm your eligibility It applies , people that had their Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) payees. it pays 65-80% of health insurance costs. The HCTC can be done monthly when you pay insurance short term, and annually if you file federal income tax returns.
You meet the general requirements for the HCTC if below is true:
You are a PBGC payee who is 55 years or older; or
You are a worker displaced by overseas competition - Trade Adjustment Assistance recipient
and;
You are covered by a qualified plan for which you pay over 50% of the cost
You are not enrolled in Medicare Part A, B, or C
You are not enrolled in Medicaid
You are not enrolled in Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
You are not enrolled in Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) or
You are not
eligible for TRICARE (US Military).
You are not in prison under federal, state, or local authority
You are not receiving a 65% COBRA Premium Reduction
You are not a dependent on someone else's income tax return
The stimulus bill raised the tax credit to 80% from 2009 through March, 2011. Since March, the HCTC subsidy has dropped to 65%.
Trade Adjustment Assistance recipient
The Trade Adjustment Assistance law contains the health premium subsidy provisions to workers displaced by foreign trade. Some of them are displaced workers who are certified by the Department of Labor as eligible to receive Trade Readjustment Allowances under the Trade Adjustment Assistance(TAA) program.
PBGC payees
The subsidy is available to participants who are at least age 55 whose pension plans have been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Others may be eligible because they receive benefits from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and are 55 years old or older.
Monthly HCTC
If you registered with the government monthly for HCTC, you send the government 35%, and they and the other 65%, and send the total to your health insurer. The HCTC Program partners with various federal and state agencies and Health Plan Administrators (HPAs) to deliver the tax credit to eligible individuals.
Congress understood that losing one's health coverage could be as distressing as losing one's job or having one's pension taken over. The purpose of the HCTC is to make health coverage more affordable for these groups of people who otherwise might not be insured. The HCTC is unique, because it is the first time a federal tax credit is being used to help people who are affected by trade or employers experiencing financial hardship afford health insurance coverage.
Craig Casey is an Writer, Coach, Blogger, Husband, and Former Health Insurance Agent helping people on the web since 1999 with their health insurance problems.
blog comments powered by Disqus
