Some Delphi retirees gain health insurance tax credit

WASHINGTON — The IRS will permit groups like Delphi salaried retirees to receive the Health Coverage Tax Credit starting July 1, U.S. Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown announced today.

“This program is critical to thousands of Ohio families and retirees, and they need it up and running now because their health care depends on it,” said Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area. “Many Ohioans have been forced to take extraordinary measures to pay for health insurance.”

The HCTC helps trade-affected workers, certain groups of retirees and their families purchase private health coverage to replace the employer-sponsored coverage they lost. It makes health insurance more affordable by providing a 72.5 percent refundable tax credit to eligible workers enrolled in a qualified health plan, allowing these people to pay only a portion of their qualified health insurance.

There are about 20,000 Delphi retirees, including 5,000 in Ohio with about 1,500 in the Mahoning Valley.

Brown and Portman sponsored a bill, signed into law last year, to retroactively extend the HCTC through 2019. HCTC lapsed in January 2014.

“Thousands of Ohio Delphi retirees will breathe a sigh of relief once [the] IRS follows through on this commitment,” said Brown, a Cleveland Democrat. “Retirees have fixed monthly incomes and the Health Coverage Tax Credit advanced monthly payment is a lifeline for them and their families in paying for their health care.”