By Jerry Geisel, Crain News Service
WASHINGTON (March 17, 2014 ) — Individuals who have lost their jobs due to foreign competition, as well as retirees in failed pension plans, again would be eligible for federal health insurance premium subsidies under legislation introduced last week in the House of Representatives.
The subsidy, known as the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), expired at the end of last year. It had paid 72.5 percent of health care premiums for eligible beneficiaries—people who have lost their jobs due to foreign competition and retirees at least age 55 whose pension plans have been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2014 — H.R. 4163 — introduced by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., with more than 40 co-sponsors, would restore that subsidy retroactive to Jan. 1, 2014, and boost the subsidy to 80 percent.
In the case of individuals who also are eligible for healthcare reform law premium subsidies, they would have a choice between using those subsidies to purchase coverage or the HCTC. Typically, the HCTC premium subsidy had been used by affected individuals to purchase COBRA coverage from their former employers.
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This report appeared on businessinsurance.com, the website of Business Insurance magazine, a Chicago-based sister publication of Tire Business.
