There’s apparently a glitch with one of the new state health care reform measures — the one which allows parents to keep their adult children on the family health care plan until the kid reaches the age of 25. State Senator Jack Hatch says an initial ruling from the I.R.S. indicates that whatever the parent pays to insure that child, the federal government will force the parent to claim that as taxable income.
Hatch, who’s a Democrat from Des Moines, says it’s mystifying."I don’t know how they determine that, but in some cases it could be substantial, but every family will determine or get a separate plan," Hatch says. For example, a young adult with serious health problems would requires a high-dollar insurance premium, even when linked to a family plan.
In some cases, the payment for the insurance — which again would be counted as taxable income — would be so high as to be a bad financial move, in terms of the parents’ taxes. "And this is an example of some of the things we are doing that (have) federal consequences that we’re unaware of," Hatch says.
Hatch and others are trying to organize a "summit" for later this summer so state officials can sit down with federal officials to resolve this and other problems in implementing the state’s new health care reforms.