Texans to be eligible for health care tax credits

New rules on premiums to start in 2014

By Matthew Waller Scripps Texas Newspapers
Posted April 11, 2013 at 10:35 p.m.


Tax credit breakdown for Taylor County

According to “Help Is at Hand: New Health Insurance Tax Credits in Texas.” Full report online here

People eligible (138 percent to 400 percent of federal poverty level): 11,810

Percent of those eligible with family not employed status: 10.9 percent unemployed

Percent of those eligible by age: under 18 (26.2 percent), 18-34 (37.8 percent), 35-54 (25.7 percent), 55 and older (10.3 percent)

AUSTIN — Starting in 2014, when new health insurance rules take effect under the Affordable Care Act, millions of Texans also will be eligible for tax credits that will take much of the bite out of health insurance premiums.

Congressmen and policy analysts in support of federal health care reform held a teleconference Thursday to explain how that key component of President Barack Obama’s signature Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) would affect Texas, promoting the study with county-by-county data. The study is titled “Help Is at Hand: New Health Insurance Tax Credits in Texas.”

“It will ensure that insurance is affordable for working Texans of modest means,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett said in the conference.

A report released Thursday by supporters of the new health care insurance system states that in 2014 almost 2.6 million Texans could get tax credits on premiums to help pay for health coverage.

Enrollment application starts Oct. 1, and the credits go into effect in January 2014.

People will be able to buy the insurance on a website, similar to the way used to purchase airplane tickets, Doggett said.

Starting in 2014, people who don’t have health insurance will pay a penalty: $95 per adult and $47.50 per child, to a maximum of $285, or 1 percent of the family income, whichever is greater.

The 2.6 million cited in the report assumes the projected expansion of Medicaid, government health care for the poor, would go ahead in Texas. Gov. Rick Perry has been loath to expand Medicaid, not trusting the federal government will be able to handle the cost and not wanting to expand a “broken system.”

Without the expansion, states could see an additional 422,000 people added to the 2.6 million who might be eligible for the tax credit, Doggett said.

The tax credit is structured so it would become effective immediately for applicants, who would not have to pay the full premium in advance and wait a year for a tax refund. The amount would be calculated through a formula that takes into account family size, income and place of residence.

Texans with incomes from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to four times the federal poverty level ($94,200 for a family of four) could get tax credits.

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