Press Releases

Joining 15 of her colleagues, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene cosponsored legislation to help families access tax credits in the Affordable Care Act to ensure they get the most affordable coverage possible. Called the Family Coverage Act, the bill would fix what is known as the “family glitch” by clarifying ACA rules so individuals who are offered health coverage by their employers, but whose plans are not affordable to cover their family, can access tax credits to help pay their premiums.                                

“Ensuring that Americans have access to affordable, quality healthcare requires us to make responsible reforms to the Affordable Care Act,” said DelBene. “The Family Coverage Act provides an important fix to the so-called ‘family glitch’ and will help middle class families afford quality health insurance by giving them access to valuable premium tax credits.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, large employers must offer comprehensive, affordable health coverage to their employees. If the employee’s share of premium costs is less than 9.5% of household income, the coverage is considered “affordable” and the employee is ineligible for tax credits to help buy health insurance on the health exchange. However, the IRS interpreted this law in such a way that health insurance is considered affordable if the cost of premiums for individual coverage – as opposed to the more expensive family coverage – is less than 9.5% of family income. In many cases, the premium costs to cover entire families is considerably greater than 9.5%, putting health coverage for a family out of reach for workers. The result is that many middle class families miss out on tax credits that would make coverage for their entire family affordable. Without this reform, the Government Accountability Office estimates that up to 460,000 children could be left uncovered. This has been called the “family glitch.”

The Family Coverage Act fixes the glitch in the definition of “affordable” coverage by allowing an employee’s dependents to access premium tax credits if the cost of family coverage offered by an employer is greater than 9.5 percent of household income.

“I try hard to provide my employees with meaningful benefits that support them and their families, while ensuring that I can invest in and grow my business. The ‘family glitch’ poses a real challenge in balancing those goals,” said Anne-Marie Faiola, CEO and Founder of Bramble Berry. “I applaud Representative DelBene for working to remedy this problem. Dealing with this issue now will help provide employers and employees with the ability to plan and make better choices when it comes to health insurance coverage.”

A summary of the Family Coverage Act is available HERE.