Responsible Tax Credits for Health Insurance

Responsible Tax Credits for Health Insurance PDF Author: Mark V. Pauly
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute
ISBN: 9780844771618
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
The 1990s saw no progress in the financing of health care. About 40 million Americans still have no health insurance - including 22 per cent of America's children. This text suggests a tax credit/voucher system with as much simplicity and flexibility as possible to combat the problem

Responsible Tax Credits for Health Insurance

Responsible Tax Credits for Health Insurance PDF Author: Mark V. Pauly
Publisher: American Enterprise Institute
ISBN: 9780844771618
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
The 1990s saw no progress in the financing of health care. About 40 million Americans still have no health insurance - including 22 per cent of America's children. This text suggests a tax credit/voucher system with as much simplicity and flexibility as possible to combat the problem

Refundable Tax Credits for Health Insurance

Refundable Tax Credits for Health Insurance PDF Author: David W. Emmons
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Health insurance
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description


Medical and Dental Expenses

Medical and Dental Expenses PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Income tax deductions for medical expenses
Languages : en
Pages : 20

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Book Description


Health Care Tax Credits to Decrease the Number of Uninsured

Health Care Tax Credits to Decrease the Number of Uninsured PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Ways and Means
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description


Reconciling the Premium Tax Credit

Reconciling the Premium Tax Credit PDF Author: Francine J. Lipman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes available to certain lower and middle-income individuals a refundable tax credit, the Premium Tax Credit (PTC), designed to help them pay the premiums on their qualified health care plans. To achieve Congress's goal of making health insurance affordable, the PTC is most often provided directly to an individual's insurance provider each month in advance of actually claiming the PTC on the individual's year-end annual tax return. Of the almost twelve million individuals who have enrolled in health insurance through the federal and state health exchanges in 2015, 85% of these individuals receive the advanced PTC (APTC). In the federal health exchange, the APTC averaged $268, covering 72% of the $374 average monthly premium, resulting in $106 net monthly payments per individual or $1,272 annually. The amount of the APTC is based upon an estimate of an individual's household income to be earned for that tax year in which she is entitled to claim the credit. However, the allowable PTC that any individual may receive is based upon the individual's actual “household income” for that tax year. An individual's household income is in turn dependent upon her “modified adjusted gross income” from the tax return upon which she is claiming the credit. Therefore, the amount of the PTC an individual is entitled to for any given year cannot be determined until the individual has completed her federal income tax return for that year. For example, the amount of an individual's PTC for 2014, the first year the credit was available, is determined by the income as shown on an individual's 2014 federal income tax return, which is not prepared until early 2015. In most cases, the estimated APTC used to subsidize health insurance premiums during the tax year will differ from the actual PTC as finally determined when the individual files her annual income tax return. Through the end of October 2015, taxpayers filed 143 million 2014 income tax returns, including 3.5 million 2014 income tax returns of the 4.8 million expected tax returns with 2014 PTC. These tax returns reported $11.3 billion of the $15.5 billion 2014 APTC. If the actual PTC is less than the APTC, taxpayers will have to pay the difference when they file their tax return, which would increase the amount of tax owed or decrease the amount to be refunded. Approximately 51% of the 2014 returns, or 1.8 million returns filed, reported APTC in excess of the actual PTC by an average of $860 for the year. About 61% of these taxpayers still reported a refund. If the actual PTC is greater than the APTC, the difference will be refunded or applied against other taxes that the taxpayer might owe. Approximately, 40% of the 2014 returns filed, or 1.3 million returns, reported PTC in excess of any APTC by an average amount of $600. While the PTC is a fully refundable tax credit and can be paid directly to insurance providers in advance, it can also be applied like more traditional income tax credits. Most tax credits are claimed on an individual's year-end income tax return, serving as a reimbursement of expenses paid by the taxpayer months, or even more than a year, before the credit is received. Similarly, qualifying individuals have the option of paying their monthly health insurance premiums in full without any subsidy and waiting until they file their federal income tax return to claim any PTC. This approach is consistent with most other refundable and nonrefundable federal income tax credits including the child tax credit, dependent-care credit, adoption expense credit, lifetime learning credit, HOPE scholarship and American Opportunity tax credits, and earned income tax credit. If the taxpayer owes no other taxes, the government will refund the PTC in full. If the taxpayer owes other taxes, the PTC will offset any tax liability due, and the taxpayer will receive a refund of any balance in excess of the tax liability. This Article will explain the details of the PTC focusing on the unusual and complicated reconciliation process for individuals receiving the APTC. Given the recent implementation of the PTC and the first reconciliation experience for taxpayers in 2015, there is a dearth of scholarship on this topic. Despite the enactment of the ACA in 2010, academics have neither presented nor analyzed the detailed complexity of this unusual prepaid refundable tax credit for middle and lower-income taxpayers. This Article will fill this void by describing the many details of PTC using a variety of examples to expose the significant complexities inherent in this critical health care subsidy. This deconstruction of the PTC and its requisite reconciliation will serve as a platform for subsequent scholarship that will serve to enhance the PTC to better achieve Congress's goal of providing access to affordable health care for all Americans.

Tax Credits, the Distribution of Subsidized Health Insurance Premiums, and the Uninsured

Tax Credits, the Distribution of Subsidized Health Insurance Premiums, and the Uninsured PDF Author: Mark V. Pauly
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
This paper investigates the impact of a $1000 refundable tax credit for self-only coverage on net premiums and insurance purchases for a representative sample of potential buyers in the individual insurance market. Two methods are used to estimate the distribution of premiums: predicted premiums based on a sample of actual purchasers, and premium quotations drawn from an e-insurance web site. In most of the simulations, the net premiums for half or more of the prospective buyers are reduced to zero or low levels. The number of uninsured is reduced by between 21 percent and 85 percent depending on the size of the deductible in the benchmark plan. However, the results are sensitive to assumptions about insurer underwriting practices.

Health Insurance Tax Credits and Health Insurance Coverage of Low-earning Single Mothers

Health Insurance Tax Credits and Health Insurance Coverage of Low-earning Single Mothers PDF Author: Merve Cebi
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Child health services
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 introduced a refundable tax credit for low-income working families who purchased health insurance coverage for their children. This health insurance tax credit (HITC) existed during tax years 1991, 1992, and 1993, and was then rescinded. We use Current Population Survey data and a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the HITC's effect on private health insurance coverage of low-earning single mothers. The findings suggest that during 1991-1993, the health insurance coverage of single mothers was about 6 percentage points higher than it would have been in the absence of the HITC.

Health Insurance Premium Credits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Health Insurance Premium Credits in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) PDF Author: Bernadette Fernandez
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781478217763
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
New federal tax credits were authorized in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148, as amended), to help certain individuals pay for health insurance coverage, beginning in 2014. ACA requires “American Health Benefit Exchanges” to be established in every state by January 1, 2014, either by the state itself or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Exchanges will not be insurers, but will provide eligible individuals and small businesses with access to private health insurance plans. Generally, the plans offered through the exchanges will provide comprehensive coverage and meet all ACA market reforms, as applicable. One of the requirements that most exchange plans must meet is to provide a certain level of coverage generosity based on actuarial value. Each level of coverage generosity is designated according to a precious metal and corresponds to a specific actuarial value: Bronze (actuarial value of 60%), Silver (70%), Gold (80%), and Platinum (90%). To make exchange coverage more affordable, certain individuals will receive premium assistance in the form of federal tax credits. The premium credit will be an advanceable, refundable tax credit, meaning taxpayers need not wait until the end of the tax year in order to benefit from the credit, and may claim the full credit amount even if they have little or no federal income tax liability. Although the premium credits will not be available until 2014, the illustrations provided in this report are based on current federal poverty levels, to reflect how the estimated premium credit amounts compare to current income levels. Under ACA, the amount received in premium credits is based on income tax returns. These amounts are reconciled in the next year and can result in overpayment of premium credits if income increases, which must be repaid to the federal government. ACA limited the amount of required repayments. Since the enactment of ACA, these limits have been increased in order to raise revenues for other legislative initiatives (e.g., P.L. 111-309 and P.L. 112-9). Most recently, on June 7, 2012, the House passed H.R. 436, the Health Care Cost Reduction Act of 2012, which includes a measure that would remove all limits on repayment, making individuals fully liable for the full amount of any premium credit overpayment. Relative affordability of health insurance premiums individuals and families might face within health insurance exchanges will likely vary from exchange to exchange based on a host of factors, including enrollees' age, the varying prices paid by plans for medical goods and services, the breadth of the provider network, the provisions regarding how out-of-network care is paid for (or not), and the use of tools by the plan to reduce health care utilization (e.g., prior authorization for certain tests). Examples provided in the Appendix of this report depict a range by which premiums might reasonably be expected to vary based on enrollees' age, and variation in medical costs across geographic areas, for purposes of illustration only. Actual premiums will likely vary among health insurance exchanges based on a wide range of factors other than those depicted in this report.

Lower Taxes Lower Premiums

Lower Taxes Lower Premiums PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 10

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Book Description


The Tax Treatment of Employment-based Health Insurance

The Tax Treatment of Employment-based Health Insurance PDF Author: Leonard Burman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Employee fringe benefits
Languages : en
Pages : 80

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Book Description
I. Introduction -- II. Background -- III. Rationale for a tax subsidy for health insurance -- IV. How the tax exclusion affects the health insurance market -- V. Who benefits from the tax exclusion? -- VI. Options for changing the tax subsidy -- Appendix. Simulating options for taxing premiums for employment-based health insurance.