The Internal Revenue Service has released identical sets of temporary and proposed rules concerning the health insurance premium tax credits available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
The rules address circumstances in which a married taxpayer can claim a premium tax credit on a separate return, indexing methodology and allocations for the reconciliation of advance credit payments and the premium tax credit, among other issues. The rules will be published in the Federal Register today, and comments on the proposed regulations will be accepted for 90 days following publication.
The rules come on the heels of (but aren't a response to) conflicting decisions issued recently in appeals courts in the District of Columbia and Virginia have created uncertainty about PPACA tax credits, also known as insurance subsidies. A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has held the subsidies can't be provided in states relying on the federal government to run their health insurance exchanges. Hours after the D.C. court made its decision, a three-judge panel in a Virginia appeals court determined people in any state are eligible for subsidies. The issue will likely reach the Supreme Court, and a decision in line with the D.C. court's ruling could increase financial pressure on hospitals, according to Fitch Ratings.