History of the Premium tax credit

The premium tax credit (PTC) is a refundable tax credit in the United States. It is payable by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to eligible households that have obtained healthcare insurance by a healthcare exchange (marketplace) in the tax year. It can be paid in advance directly to a healthcare insurance company to offset the cost of monthly health insurance premiums.

The tax credit is part of a host of Affordable Care Act tax provisions, introduced by the IRS in 2014, and is meant to extend health insurance coverage to 18 million lower and middle-income Americans.

The eligibility criteria for the premium tax credit is determined by of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and specified the credits are only available to individuals and families who have enrolled in a health plan offered on a healthcare exchange. On May 23, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) adopted a regulation that said tax credits would be made available to eligible individuals who enroll in a health plan through either a state or a federally facilitated exchange.The IRS based this on their interpretation of Section 1401.

On June 11, 2012 the IRS published Internal Revenue Bulletin: 2012-24 which obtains the final regulations that amend the Income Tax Regulations (26 CFR part 1) under section 36B relating to the PTC.

Four legal challenges were filed in four different states contesting the IRS regulation. The plaintiffs in all these challenges claim that a federally run exchange does not qualify as a health plan exchange and therefore cannot dispense premium tax credits. On July 22, 2014, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit both issued conflicting opinions, with the Fourth Circuit confirming the validity of the IRS regulation in King v. Burwell, but the D.C. Circuit rejecting its validity in Halbig v. Burwell.

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