By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    HIPPA compliance
    How Medical Office Staff Can Make Your Practice HIPAA Compliant
    October 29, 2021
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    Everything you need to know about hyaluronic acid treatment
    February 10, 2022
    Which Mushroom Capsules Are Good for Your Health?
    May 5, 2022
    Latest News
    6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
    September 10, 2025
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Clinical Trials
    Can You Participate in a Clinical Trial?
    April 28, 2022
    5 Things to Take Care of When You Go Into Hospital
    July 24, 2020
    Pharmacists help you
    How A Pharmacist Can Help You
    November 28, 2022
    Latest News
    Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
    September 9, 2025
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Almost Anyone Can Claim ObamaCare Tax Credits
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > Almost Anyone Can Claim ObamaCare Tax Credits
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

Almost Anyone Can Claim ObamaCare Tax Credits

John Graham
John Graham
Share
4 Min Read
obamacare tax credits
SHARE

What to make of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ notice that it will pay out retroactive ObamaCare premium tax credits and cost-reducing subsidies to people who have not yet signed up for ObamaCare?

What to make of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ notice that it will pay out retroactive ObamaCare premium tax credits and cost-reducing subsidies to people who have not yet signed up for ObamaCare?

obamacare tax creditsThe media have reported that these payments will be dished out to people who bought qualifying health insurance outside an ObamaCare exchange because the exchanges have not been working. According to the New York Times, the new policy is a result of the heroic lobbying of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, whose exchange has failed to enroll almost anybody. According to Professor Sara Rosenbaum of George Washington University Law School: “People could have gone to court to obtain benefits denied without due process of law, because of a breakdown in government eligibility systems, and a judge would probably have ordered retroactive relief. The federal government is voluntarily providing equitable relief that a court would have given.”

Well, maybe. But this new executive amendment to ObamaCare does far more than give out subsidies to people who had to buy health insurance off-exchange because the exchanges crashed on take-off. According to the notice:

More Read

Connectivity In Medical Devices Provides Critical Information in Real Time
The Double Edge Sword for Cost Report Reopening
Why a “Switzerland Approach” Might Become a Key Part of Wearable Health Platforms
HIMSS Federal & Stage Public Policy Update
Should Medicare negotiate drug prices? Probably not

First, if an individual…has not been enrolled in any health coverage continuously since January 1, 2014…before a successful eligibility determination is obtained, when he or she receives a determination of eligibility for coverage through the Marketplace and enrolls in a QHP through the Marketplace, the Marketplace may allow for coverage retroactive to the date, established by the Marketplace (emphasis mine), on which coverage would have been effective…For instance, the Marketplace may (emphasis mine) establish an effective enrollment date based on the date that the individual originally submitted an application for coverage to the Marketplace. The individual will be treated for all purposes as having been enrolled in the QHP since the effective enrollment date.

Note that an ObamaCare exchange (“Marketplace”) has the power to decide the effective date. The exchange may decide that the effective date is the date the enrollee first surfed the website. But there is nothing in the notice that would prevent an exchange from establishing January 1 as the effective date for any enrollee.

Combined with the other part of the notice, i.e., that people who bought individual insurance outside the ObamaCare exchanges will receive subsidies as if they had enrolled in the exchanges, I believe we have two takeaways from this latest twist to ObamaCare:

  1. The Administration is so far behind enrollment goals that it feels the need to tell people who have not enrolled that they will not suffer financially.
  2. The biggest winners are the so-called web-based entities, such as e-Health, Inc., which have been lobbying state-based exchanges to allow them to enroll people. The new rule effectively erases the difference between enrolling in an exchange and enrolling via a web-based broker. (At time of writing, eHealth (NASDAQ:EHTH) stock was up 1.10 percent on the day, versus a 0.72 percent drop in the NASDAQ Index.)
(tax credits for Obamacare / shutterstock)
TAGGED:tax credits
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Strange Coincidence: When Cancer Strikes Hospital CEO

August 31, 2011

Are Republicans Plotting a 100% Death Tax on the Middle Class?

April 18, 2011

CVS Kicks the Habit: No More Tobacco Products. What’s Next?

February 6, 2014

Collecting Small Patient Balances: A/R Best Practices

August 25, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?