Hello everyone,
I hope 2021 has been a better year than last, and that everyone is so far having a happy, healthy year!
I wanted to share some details about the American Rescue Plan passed into law last month, and how it may help some with your yearly medical costs. I’ve identified you as someone who may benefit from the new law.
The first thing to know is that due to President Biden’s Executive Order, there is currently an Uninsured Enrollment Period going on. Anyone who DOES NOT have insurance is eligible to enroll into a plan from now until August 15th. That probably does not affect anyone on this email, but may help your friends or family.
THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
- Beginning April 15th, you may qualify for higher tax credits. The law is providing some increased benefits for those who are eligible for federal tax credits to help lower the premiums further. Everyone eligible will get these in the form of a higher tax credit when you file taxes for 2021 in April of 2022 – leading to a higher tax return. Alternatively, we can rerun your Eligibility in the Connect for Health CO system, and if you are tracking to make what we initially estimated for 2021, then you should qualify for an increased tax credit and lower premium. If you are making MORE money than expected and are likely to make MORE than what you originally estimated, we should likely NOT re-run your Eligibility, and your tax credit will probably come out about the same, provided your income isn’t SIGNIFICANTLY higher than estimated. Everything will reconcile when you file your taxes for 2021 next year regardless.
- (This one could be BIG for some) If anyone has received unemployment benefits for at least 1 week in 2021, then you will qualify for FULL tax credits and possibly increased Cost Sharing Reduction in your plan, and we should definitely rerun that in the system. The exception to this would be if the member is eligible for employer coverage that is considered affordable.
- This likely might result in a change in benefit and plan options. If it makes sense, and you’d like to change plans, you can do so, and credit you’ve paid toward your deductible will be credited towards the new plan provided you stay with the same insurance carrier. If you change carriers, credit towards a deductible will NOT apply and you will start your deductible over. If your tax credits are not going to change and you’re not rerunning Eligibility for a lowered premium, then you will still be able to change plans after May 15th until August 15th if you’d like.
Due to the number of clients I’ll be speaking with that this might effect, I would request that you review your income projections we probably discussed during Open Enrollment and let me know:
- If you will be at similar to lower income for 2021 as prior projections (in which case we will likely want to apply for the lowered premium for you).
- Provide me with the income estimates for EACH income area. (An example would be: “I’m making $12,200 in Social Security this year, my wife will make $25,300 from her job for a total of $37,500 for 2021.” – Please be specific as I have a lot of clients and don’t always save these breakdowns, and this helps us make sure we have accurate numbers so no one has a problem with their tax credit when they do their taxes.) You can always log into your Connect for Health CO account and look at your My Eligibility application to see the income projection used for 2021.
- Let me know if you’ve been on UNEMPLOYMENT this year at all (in which case we will likely re-run your Eligibility for lowered premiums). Only 2021 Unemployment benefits would apply.
If your income will be as previously estimated, and you’re happy with your plan and current tax credit (and/or would prefer to receive a higher tax return anyway), NO ACTION NEEDED!
If you have friends who are enrolled OFF EXCHANGE on individual health insurance, they may now qualify for tax credits due to the increased funds. They may qualify for assistance to lower their insurance premiums to at least below 8.5% of their household income with expanded Eligibility. If anyone needs to evaluate further, have them give me a call or shoot me an email.
Connect for Health CO and The CO Division of Insurance are releasing more information on April 15th and throughout the week. Hopefully we will have some more details after that and can begin running new Eligibility then for those who need it and over the coming weeks.
I hope this helps, and again, wish everyone a happy, healthy year!
Best regards,
Bret