Another ‘Stimulus Check’ Could Be Coming (No, Not From Joe Biden)
It now appears that millions of Americans will be eligible for new payments this coming fall thanks to health insurance companies. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, private insurance companies will eventually distribute $2.1 billion in rebates via the Affordable Care Act.
The $1,400 coronavirus stimulus payments under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan that are currently being fast-tracked to financially struggling Americans may just be the beginning of other “stimulus” checks.
It now appears that millions of Americans will be eligible for new payments this coming fall thanks to health insurance companies. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, private insurance companies will eventually distribute $2.1 billion in rebates via the Affordable Care Act.
Throughout the ongoing pandemic, it was made mandatory that health insurers spend at least 80 percent of premium revenue on health-care claims or quality-improvement activities.
If they failed to follow the guidelines, they are on the hook to refund a part of the premiums they received.
The latest estimates suggest that nearly eleven million Americans will get some form of a refund, which comes out to about $300 for those individuals who paid for their own health insurance.
For people with employer health insurance coverage, the refunds could range from $100 to $130.
Keep in mind that among the proposals in Biden’s highly ambitious American Families Plan is an indefinite extension of the expanded Obamacare subsidies.
Moreover, don’t forget about two other sizeable payments that are headed to eligible Americans in the coming weeks.
According to a Treasury report, roughly 7.3 million tax returns already processed by the Internal Revenue Service qualify for unemployment tax refunds. This is thanks to Biden’s legislation that was able to waive federal tax on up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits—or $20,400 for married couples filing jointly—that were received in 2020. The IRS has confirmed that it will issue the refunds automatically to taxpayers who qualify.
However, take note that households with $150,000 or more in income are ineligible for the new benefits.
The other “stimulus check” will enter eligible Americans’ bank accounts beginning July 15. The White House has stated that approximately forty million families will start receiving monthly $250 or $300 payments till the end of the year from the expanded child tax credits.
Biden’s stimulus bill enabled the expansion of these particular credits that generally allowed families to claim a credit of up to $2,000 for children under the age of seventeen. But they now have been extended to even more families—and they qualify to collect as much as $3,600 per year for a child under the age of six and up to $3,000 for children between ages six and seventeen.
“The American Rescue Plan is delivering critical tax relief to middle class and hard-pressed working families with children,” Biden said in a statement.
“For working families with children, this tax cut sends a clear message: help is here,” he added.
Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.