Erroneous records cost nearly 10,000 Californians temporary loss of tax subsidies

A bookkeeping error by Covered California, the state's health insurance marketplace, resulted in nearly 10,000 policyholders losing their federal tax credits for the time being, reports California Healthline.

Here are three things to know.

1. The issue dates back to December, when Covered California discovered approximately 24,000 policyholders hadn't provided consent to the agency to verify their income against a federal database, Covered California spokeswoman Lizelda Lopez told California Healthline.

"We realized looking over our data that we didn't have their consent, and didn't tell them that their [tax credits] would be zeroed out … as a result," she previously said.

2. Once Covered California identified the error, officials said they made efforts to contact policyholders and ask them to provide their consent by Dec. 31 so they wouldn't lose their tax credits Jan. 1, according to the report. However, Ms. Lopez told California Healthline,only about 60 percent did.

3. The remaining 9,600 or so enrollees still have time to provide consent, and if they do, Covered California will recalculate their tax credits and apply them retroactively to the start of the year, Ms. Lopez told the publication.

 

More articles on healthcare finance:

St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital closes emergency department
5 health systems with strong finances
Hospital uncompensated care costs fall to lowest level in 26 years: 4 things to know

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars