More than 160,000 Virginians and up to 5.1 million Americans are now eligible for financial assistance with health coverage after a new IRS rule removed the “family glitch.”
In April, a Third Way report estimated that a Virginia family of four with income at 200 percent of the federal poverty level would save $4,197 from a fix to the family glitch. Virginia families are expected to save slightly more than the national average, which is $4,152 for a family of four.
The correction was made to the federal register on Thursday, in time for open enrollment in the 2023 plan year at Healthcare.gov. The Marketplace’s enhanced subsidies starting November 1 are now available to families that did not qualify in the last 10 years because of the glitch.
“This fix is going to have a huge impact in Virginia,” Director of Enroll Virginia Deepak Madala said in a press release. “The family glitch has prevented working Virginians and their families from accessing low-cost and high-quality health insurance for nearly a decade. Now, these families won’t have to choose between going uninsured or paying too much for unaffordable health coverage.”
Financial assistance through Marketplace is usually available for Americans unable to get coverage through Medicaid, Medicare, FAMIS or an employer, according to the press release.
When the IRS used only the cost of an employee’s self-only insurance premium to determine if coverage was affordable for an entire family, the “family glitch” was created. Adding family members to employer healthcare plans is costly. The glitch prevented many families with working individuals from accessing subsidies, even when employer plans were unaffordable. With the new IRS rule, family members offered employer health plans with unaffordable family coverage may buy subsidized insurance on Marketplace.
Call Enroll Virginia’s staff at 1-888-392-5132, and enter your ZIP code to be transferred to a navigator in your community.
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Rebecca Barnabi
