Latinos May Be Eligible for ACA Tax Credits

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Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed into law in 2010, millions of Americans have gained coverage or found more affordable options thanks to the tax credit. New information released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that 2.5 million Americans may now qualify for these tax credits if they shop for 2017 coverage through the Marketplace.

“More than 9 million Americans already receive financial assistance through the Health Insurance Marketplace to help keep coverage affordable, but today’s data show millions more Americans could benefit,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell in a news release. “We encourage everyone to check out their options on HealthCare.gov or their state Marketplace and see if they qualify for financial assistance. Marketplace consumers who qualify for financial assistance usually have the option to buy coverage with a premium of less than $75 per month.”

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Currently, six states, including heavily Latino-populated ones such as Texas, California, Florida, and Illinois (Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the others), each have more than 100,000 individuals enrolled in off-Marketplace coverage and their incomes may qualify them for the tax credits.

Latinos have been one of the major populations that have benefited the most from the ACA. The uninsured rate overall for Latinos is down 11.3% from 41.8% to 30.5% resulting in 4 million Latino adults gaining coverage. Since the ACA’s passage, 4.2 million Latinos, aged 18-64, have gained health insurance coverage; this lowered the uninsured rate among Latinos by 7.7 percentage points.

The new data from HHS estimated that nearly 7 million individuals currently purchased health insurance in off-Marketplace markets. Nearly 2 million of those have household incomes that could qualify them for Medicaid. The tax credits available through the Marketplace were created to improve the affordability of the coverage plans and protect new insures from the impact of “rate increases.”