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I knew I had it coming, but I got a package in the mail yesterday to apply for it. There is a federal law, that if your company shut down, you lost your health care benefits, are collecting a PBGC pension and are over 55 years old, you qualify for a 65% tax credit for health insurance.
When I was 19 years old, and finished 2 years in the Navy, I was hired by the River Terminal Railway Company, a division of Republic Steel, which was later taken over by LTV (also known as Liquidate, Terminate, and Vacate, or Lyin' Texas Varmints). When they shut down in 2002, I was forced to retire at age 49. Because of federal laws governing railroads, the company had to establish a trust fund to cover our health insurance for a while. We were lucky. The Steelworkers were cut off immediately. The trust fund ran dry last year, and we switched to my wife's coverage where she works. It costs us around $700 per month.
I turned 55 last month, and I knew about the tax provision, and was going to check on it, but I got this package in the mail yesterday. The way it works, is, if you have to go out and buy a new, qualified health insurance plan, or already have one, you send the insurance company 35% of the premium each month and the government will send the other 65% to them. In my case, where my wife pays through her employers plan, we get a 65% tax credit at the end of the year.
It's a legislative nightmare, but I'm lucky to have it. A friend of mine that I worked with, who is a couple of years older bought a policy when we were terminated, but it wasn't a "qualified plan" and he took the credit, and wound up having to pay the IRS a bundle in taxes, and penalties. He joined a qualified plan, and when he turned 62 they increased his premiums over 65%, so the credit was pretty much meaningless.
We don't need tax credits, or employer financed health insurance. What we need is Government sponsored, single-payer health insurance. Get the insurance companies out of the picture completely.
I'm a lot luckier than most people, to qualify for such a program, but I shouldn't be. Everyone deserves better.
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