U.S. Reps. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Jared Golden (D-ME) are advocating for the inclusion of a long-term reauthorization or permanent extension of the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), which is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2021.
“We represent working people who have been left without affordable health insurance since Congress allowed the program to expire at the beginning of the year,” Turner and Golden wrote to Speaker of House Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “The HCTC provides refundable tax credits to retirees whose pensions have been taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) as a result of their previous employer’s financial instability. It also assists workers who have lost their jobs due to outsourcing, as well as their families.”
The legislators maintain constituents deserve access to affordable health care through the credit amid time record inflation and economic uncertainty.
“Since its inception in 2002, this program has been reauthorized seven times – providing much-needed benefits to workers in such positions,” Turner and Golden concluded. “These people worked hard their whole lives and don’t deserve the uncertainty and stress of relying on a program that could expire every year or two. That’s why we must ensure that a permanent reauthorization is included in any end-of-year tax extenders legislation.”