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I am 62, early retiree, with a PBGC pension which offered the HCTC credit to help off set medical
costs to all who were receiving an PBGC pension below age 65. It off set medical premiums by 72%.
It's been offered since 2001, but the IRS now has terminated the plan and stated that you are now
expected to use Affordable Care Act. That in it self would not be a problem, but if a married couple makes $62,040 in 2014, Affordable Care Act monthly premiums are in the $550 range and Affordable Care Act will give you a credit for the rest. But if you make just $1 more $62,041 there is no credit and a married couple will have to pay the full cost of $1600+ a month. This is because the credit levels are tied to Federal Poverty Levels to 400%.
I know I can't do anything other than write my congressman as these numbers are set in stone,
but the campaign promise that your medical cost won't increase is a pile of bunk, because of
this plan I lose my PBGC benefit and then I have to pay full cost medical premiums as $62,041 is considered rich. At least congress could have implemented a declining scale plan instead of a total drop off cliff.
You can easily make more than that but it not show o adjusted income on taxes which I think is the schedule used. You need consult a CPA if your worried about now to offset it under new IRS rules.
I am also age 62, live in New York State and currently receive the 72% HCTC Credit for a current HealthyNY Excellus BCBS plan designed PBGC retirees. With subsidy it has only cost $100/month to my salvation.
I've found only p/t employment and my employer canceled p/t employee health plans forcing all to the Health Care Exchange. I am told by NYSTATEOFHEALTH.ORG Navigators my PBGC pension, currently used to be eligible for a HealthyNY plan will now be used against me as part of my Adjustable Gross Income and thus excluding me from any 2013 Advance Premium Tax Credit. A 2014 ACA Exchange plan similar to what I have now will cost $530/month vs. current $100/month..a $430/month increase.
Excluding my monthly modest PBGC pension, my p/t monthly income will be about $1092.00/month gross while my monthly expenses starting 1/2014(including new $530 ACA health premium) will be $1184/month (and that excludes buying such things as food, car maintenance, other basics!). Here are some other facts found today (10/30/13):
• President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it.
• Four sources deeply involved in the Affordable Care Act tell NBC News that 50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a “cancellation” letter.
• The Affordable Care Act law when originally drafted stated that policies in effect as of March 23, 2010 will be “grandfathered,” meaning consumers can keep those policies even though they don’t meet requirements of the new health care law.
• The Department of Health and Human Services then wrote regulations that narrowed that provision, by saying that if any part of a policy was significantly changed since that date -- the deductible, co-pay, or benefits, for example -- the policy would not be grandfathered.
• Source: Obama administration knew millions could not keep their health insurance - Investigations
So, because any miniscule changes to current PBGC eligible health plans our government has manufactured a way to exclude any further protection for us still impacted financially and employment wise due to our age, the economy and 9/11 effects still felt my may age 50+ today.
It is an outrage that we can neither (a) keep our current health plans even without the HCTC subsidy (which for me would have been $356/month without the 72% HCTC subsidy) or (b) at least allow our current monthly PBGC pensions to be excluded for calculating 2014 ACA Advance Premium Tax Credits. Basically we're getting screwed from both directions.
My new motto is "First Suffered from Ossama, Now Disserted by Obama (and I've been an Obama supporter).
Last edited by the fearless flyer; 10-30-2013 at 06:21 PM..
Reason: spelling errors
I am 62, early retiree, with a PBGC pension which offered the HCTC credit to help off set medical
costs to all who were receiving an PBGC pension below age 65. It off set medical premiums by 72%.
It's been offered since 2001, but the IRS now has terminated the plan and stated that you are now
expected to use Affordable Care Act. That in it self would not be a problem, but if a married couple makes $62,040 in 2014, Affordable Care Act monthly premiums are in the $550 range and Affordable Care Act will give you a credit for the rest. But if you make just $1 more $62,041 there is no credit and a married couple will have to pay the full cost of $1600+ a month. This is because the credit levels are tied to Federal Poverty Levels to 400%.
I know I can't do anything other than write my congressman as these numbers are set in stone,
but the campaign promise that your medical cost won't increase is a pile of bunk, because of
this plan I lose my PBGC benefit and then I have to pay full cost medical premiums as $62,041 is considered rich. At least congress could have implemented a declining scale plan instead of a total drop off cliff.
Is anyone else in this predicament?
On the plus side their is more coverage just one of them being if you want a sex change operation you will get it! Also free pregnancy and abortion counseling for those age 64 and the good Lord knows you must have that in your plan!
How could anyone have been so naive as to believe anything out of the mouth of a Chicago gangster community organizer is beyond my comprehension. "Hi,I am from the government and I am here to help you....."
Those who will pay the biggest price? It's not going to be the minimum wage dishwasher, he will be getting a great deal, but the middle income, those earning between $65 and $100k, that will really take a soaking.
It certainly seems to me that the people have been seriously misled and the only ones who will truly benefit from the ACA are those who were too poor to afford healthcare coverage anyway, perhaps along with those who have preexisting conditions. But the medically indigent by-and-large already had Medicaid and couldn't a straightforward expansion of that have "captured" those previously deemed uninsurable without all the rest of this mess and drama?
Still, because of the deceit of the many pronouncements about "This will save most families $2,500," I'm taking a wait-and-see approach. I also remember hearing, "If you like your insurance plan you can keep it." Obviously, that, too, was inaccurate. Now my concern is the "If you're covered by your employer you won't have to change plans" and other such attractive pronouncements. Are those false as well?
My wife and I have Medicare coupled with excellent supplements, including unlimited prescription coverage. These are retirement benefits provided by our former government employer from which we've retired. Are we among the next cohort to be in for a nasty surprise? I shudder to think that any administration would be so duplicitous as to sell the entire country a bill of goods of this magnitude and hope that's not the case.
On the plus side their is more coverage just one of them being if you want a sex change operation you will get it! Also free pregnancy and abortion counseling for those age 64 and the good Lord knows you must have that in your plan!
How could anyone have been so naive as to believe anything out of the mouth of a Chicago gangster community organizer is beyond my comprehension. "Hi,I am from the government and I am here to help you....."
Those who will pay the biggest price? It's not going to be the minimum wage dishwasher, he will be getting a great deal, but the middle income, those earning between $65 and $100k, that will really take a soaking.
Expiration of the HCTC has nothing to do with the ACA. The legislation that provided the HCTC has expired so the program itself is going away. I have been an HCTC recipient due to my small PBGC pension since 2010 and I'm sure gonna miss it. It was a temporary program put into place to assist those who lost their jobs or were forced to retire early due to foreign competition. It always had an expiration date and was extended once before past the original expiration date. The current expiration date is 01/01/2014. This expiration date was set by Congress when the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 was passed.
Under the ACA my premiums are the same amount as they were before, just not subsidized by HCTC.
It will vary for individuals and from one location to another. Our current policy will not be available due to ACA and the cheapest replacement is actually inferior with its copay and limits... and it will cost DOUBLE what I currently pay.
Soon to switch to Medicare but it is to be seen what this shake up in medical care will do to it.
Luckily for ExPats, we do not need to comply with ACA nor do we have to pay fines!
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