HEALTH INSURANCE Federal program helps cover costs

Few people attended a local informational session.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Anthony Volpe tends to be skeptical about anything involving government or big business.
He's been that way since LTV Steel went bankrupt in 2001, leaving him and other retirees with reduced pensions and stripping away life insurance and health insurance benefits he earned over 32 years at the mill.
But Volpe was relieved Wednesday when he signed up for a federal program that will pay 65 percent of the cost of his health insurance benefits.
The New Middletown retiree has been paying a monthly $1,432 premium for health coverage since January 2002 -- that amount will drop to $501 a month, and the federal Health Coverage Tax Credit will pay the rest.
"It's a blessing. I'm glad it's here," he said. "But I don't trust anything anymore. I can't help wondering what's on the other side of the hill."
Eligibility
Volpe is one of 11,800 Ohioans eligible for benefits under the HCTC, a provision of the 2002 Trade Adjustment Reform Act aimed at helping Americans who have lost their jobs or lost pension benefits because of competition from foreign trade.
The Internal Revenue Service determines who is eligible and notifies them, based on information provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Not many of those eligible locally attended an informational session Wednesday at the Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana hall in Youngstown.
Mike Mormile, a United Steelworkers of America representative who works with International Steel Group in Cleveland, said he believed IRS letters informing recipients of the meeting were not mailed out in time. He said none of the workers he talked to at the meeting had received letters.
Two options
Michael Bailey, a program analyst for the IRS based in Washington, D.C., said there are two ways an eligible worker or retiree can get access to the HCTC tax credit benefit.
Volpe signed up for advance credit, which just became available this month. Once his eligibility is verified, he will send a copy of his health plan invoice to the HCTC and will start paying his 35 percent share of his coverage directly to the program. The federal government will pay the remaining 65 percent, and Volpe will report the transaction by filing IRS form 1099-H with his tax return.
Those who qualify can also claim the credit on their tax returns and receive the repayment in a lump sum. Under that option, recipients would pay 100 percent of their health insurance premiums for the year, being careful to keep copies of the plan invoices and payment records, then submitting IRS form 8885 with their federal tax returns to claim the credit.
In either case, Bailey said, recipients must be sure that their health plans are qualified.
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act coverage, or COBRA, is a qualified plan for a HCTC-eligible worker who lost a job and continued the insurance they had under the previous employer. Coverage under a spouse's insurance is qualified if the spouse's employer pays for 50 percent or less of the cost.
Coverage could also be qualified if the worker bought it at least 30 days before losing a job.
vinarsky@vindy.com