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More Than 400,000 Kentuckians Eligible for Health Insurance Tax Credits

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Oct 14th, 2010

More Than 400,000 Kentuckians Eligible for Health Insurance Tax Credits Under Affordable Care Act

 

More than 400,000 Kentuckians will be eligible for tax cuts to help pay for private health insurance under a provision of the new federal health reform law that takes effect in 2014. The tax cuts will take the form of credits to offset part of the cost of health insurance premiums. Their value to Kentuckians will exceed $1.6 billion in 2014.

 

These are among the key findings of a report released today by Families USA, a national health care consumer organization.  Lower Taxes, Lower Premiums: The New Health Insurance Tax Credit in Kentucky details the number of Kentuckians eligible for the new tax credits by income level, employment status and insurance status:

 

  • 420,900 Kentuckians will be eligible for the new tax credit in 2014.
  • The tax credits will be worth $1.641 billion that year.
  • 95 percent of Kentuckians eligible for tax credits will be in families with a full-time worker.
  • More than two-thirds of those eligible will have annual incomes of $44,100 or more (for a family of four).
  • An estimated 46% (195,700) of those eligible for tax credits are currently uninsured.

 

Generally, the new tax credits will be available to individuals and families who have incomes between 133 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (between $14,400 and $43,300 for an individual, and $29,325 and $88,200 for a family of four in 2010). They are designed to help pay for insurance premiums that are bought through the new health insurance exchanges that will be established under the law.  Some people with incomes below 133 percent of poverty who do not qualify for Medicaid also will be eligible for the tax credits. Undocumented immigrants will not be eligible.

 

“The new tax credits will provide much-needed help to Kentucky families who struggle each year to pay rising premiums and to uninsured Kentuckians who need help buying coverage that otherwise would be out of reach,” said Kentucky Voices for Health executive director Jodi Mitchell. “This report also shows that most Kentuckians eligible for the new tax credits are in working families, with incomes between  $44,100 and $88,200 (for a family of four).  This is the kind of help hard-working Kentucky families need to get and keep health coverage.”

 

The full text of the report for Kentucky can be downloaded here.

 

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