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Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 7:58 am
by vernlarson
Help Avaya Retirees Keep Access to Health Coverage Tax Credit HCTC

A number of Avaya salaried retirees have benefited from the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) because they lost their company healthcare coverage due to the Avaya bankruptcy. This refundable tax credit pays 72.5% of qualified health insurance premiums for eligible individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 (before Medicare eligibility) and their families.

Unfortunately, the HCTC is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2019, unless Congress passes legislation to extend it as it has done a number of times since HCTC was first enacted in 2002. There are bills in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R.1939, and in the U.S. Senate, S. 2414, which, if enacted, would extend HCTC for five years.

All NRLN members should receive an Action Alert email this morning (Monday, November 25) from NRLN President Bill Kadereit and Bob Martina, NRLN VP – Grassroots, encouraging you to email the NRLN’s sample letter to your Representative and Senators to urge them to pass legislation to extend HCTC for five more years.

I want to emphasize how important it is for you to respond to the Action Alert to help Avaya salaried retirees who have benefited from this program to have HCTC extended. Now is the time for Congress to focus on governing for the people.

Click here https://www.nrln.org/SE.html#/ if you have not already responded to the Action Alert. Click on the “Take Action” button below the HCTC Action Alert message; next enter your street address and zip code, and click “GO”. It will present the sample letters for you to email to your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative.

If you have a problem with this link, go to http://www.nrln.org and click on the red flashing icon “Respond to an Action Alert” near the top of the NRLN website home page.

I recommend that you add your personal comments to the letter on how important HCTC is to Avaya retirees and their families who have lost their healthcare benefits due to the Avaya bankruptcy.

The only thing an Avaya retiree has to do to sign up as a member of the NRLN Avaya Retirees Chapter is to go to http://www.nrln.org and click on the Join RED ICON at the top of the home page:

The click takes you to: https://www.nrln.org/congresslegs.html# ... 19CCE5EA9B

After a person enters his or her name and contact information, he or she sees this:

Scroll down the list to third from the bottom and select Avaya Retirees. (Unfortunately, The Soft Edge software program does not allow the list to be alphabetized for Avaya Retirees to be near the top of the list. The reason that Avaya Retirees is near the bottom it is one of the last Chapters to be formed. We list them as the association join the NRLN or Chapters are formed.)

Vern Larson, President, NRLN Avaya Retirees Chapter
NRLN Board Member, Vice President – Membership Development
any questions email me at avayaprez@nrln.org

Copy of the NRLN: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 8:15 am
by vernlarson
NRLN Action Alert
Tell Congress to Extend
Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC)

Click here to email the NRLN’s sample letter to urge your U.S. Senators and Representative to pass legislation to extend Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC).

Since 2002, the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) has helped retirees who lost their health care coverage — in addition to their pensions and other benefits — when their employers either went bankrupt or laid off workers due to foreign trade. This refundable tax credit pays 72.5% of qualified health insurance premiums for eligible individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 (before Medicare eligibility) and their families.

Among those who have benefited from HCTC are members of the NRLN AVAYA Retirees Chapter after AVAYA (a Lucent Technologies spinoff) declared bankruptcy and the salaried pension plan was taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on November 30, 2017.

Unless members of Congress take action on bills pending in the Senate and House, HCTC will expire at the end of this year. Representative Michael Turner (OH-10) has introduced H.R. 1939 which would extend HCTC for five years. A companion bill has been introduced by Ohio Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown, who worked to extend this tax credit in 2011 and again in 2015, have introduced S. 2414 which would also extend HCTC for five years.

Please take a few minutes to respond to this NRLN Action Alert in an effort to gain legislation to help reduce the cost of health insurance coverage for individuals and their families who have already lost a great deal of what they had earned working for their employers. Now is the time for Congress to focus on governing for the people.

This email and ACTION ALERT serve as an example of why NRLN associations and chapters join and support the NRLN. Whenever income security or healthcare benefit issues affect one association or chapter or other groups of NRLN members we must band together to support them. It is a time when we ask Alyson Parker, Michael Calabrese and the NRLN staff to take the issue to the Hill in Washington D.C. Bob Martina and his grassroots network are asked to lobby in-state and in congressional districts to make contact with congressional offices back home. People like those on our Legislative Action Committee (LAC) and Ed Beltram spend days, evenings and weekends preparing and executing plans, hoping we will always make progress.

Most importantly, it is a time when you must open your emails from the NRLN and take the 5 minutes to read an ACTION ALERT, edit in personal comments, and email the prepared message we ask you to send to your Senators and Representatives.

Currently, we need your help in sending this message needed to help all AVAYA salaried retirees so they can receive a Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) to help them fund the replacement benefits they lost due to AVAYA’s bankruptcy. We are not in this because we can win the game every day, but we are all-in to do what it takes to stand in front of the right people and to be as persuasive as possible to win for NRLN members every day.

We will ask you to stand up for other similar issues, such as hundreds of Chrysler retirees being asked to pay back tens of thousands of dollars over a four month span due to a company pension calculation error made 15 years earlier; or Lucent / Nokia retirees whose life insurance is at risk unless a pension plan statute is changed to protect the benefit. These are current on-the-front-burner issues where YOU can help make a difference.

Yes, we need your financial support to pay for our operational support in Washington D.C. and across the country, but just as importantly I am asking you to extend your view beyond things closest to you and open the NRLN emails, send the Action Alerts and contribute financially when you can. A lot of people need your support -- your actions count more than you may think.

Let’s all get behind the AVAYA retirees and swamp Congress with your letters.

Bill Kadereit, President Bob Martina, Vice President – Grassroots
National Retiree Legislative Network National Retiree Legislative Network

Here are the easy steps to follow on this Action Alert:
1. Click here if you have a problem with the link above. Click on the “Take Action” button below the HCTC Action Alert; next enter your street address and zip code, and click “GO”. It will present the sample letters for you to email to your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative. If you have a problem with this link, go to http://www.nrln.org and click on the red flashing icon “Respond to an Action Alert” near the top of the NRLN website home page. When the Action Alert appears, click on the “Take Action” link. Enter your street address and zip and click “GO” and follow the steps to email the NRLN’s sample letters.
2. When you have accessed the sample letters, to the left of the letters are windows to type in your contact information required by members of Congress so they know they are receiving an email from a constituent. If you have sent previous NRLN emails to your members of Congress and left the check marks in the boxes for “Remember Me” and “I would like to receive email in the future” your contact information may be automatically displayed.
3. Personalize the letters by editing in your own comments.
4. Click on the "Preview" button and the letters addressed to your two Senators and Representative will appear. Their names will be automatically added in the letter’s greeting. Check to make sure the letters appear correct and then click "Send".
Important - Please read before forwarding: If you are going to forward this email to others, please delete the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of this email before forwarding this message. If another person would happen to click on the “Unsubscribe” link it will “Unsubscribe” your email address from receiving future NRLN / Chapter emails.

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Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 11:21 am
by Administrator
If you have not done so already, please send an email to your representative. It is super easy to do. All you need to do is provide your name and address. NRLN will compose the letter and email it on your behalf. You don't even need to look up the contact information for your representative.

Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:56 pm
by selopez
Vern,
Thank you very much for letting Avaya retirees know about the action alert aimed at extending the HCTC. The tool was very easy to use and customize for a personal touch. Thanks again for all that you do!

Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 12:59 pm
by vernlarson
To All Avaya Retirees

The NRLN will put out an announcement early next week to its members. The HCTC made it into the end of year Omnibus Budget Bill.

Portman, Brown Announce Final FY 2020 Funding Bill Includes Extension of Health Coverage Tax Credit

Last Updated: 17 December 2019

We have great news to share. The final fiscal year 2020 Congressional funding bill released today includes a short-term (1 year) extension of the Health Coverage Tax Credit through the end of 2020. The bill still has to be signed by the President but it appears all parties have indicated support for the bill.

Much appreciation goes out to all who communicated the need for this extension with your Representatives. Please see the announcement from Senator Portman’s office. We will have to take up the battle again in 2020 but for now we can breathe a sigh of relief for the immediate future.

Information will be forthcoming shortly about a special Open Enrollment window to allow enrollees to make changes to their medical coverage.

UNITED STATES SENATE

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Contact: Emily Benavides (Portman) 202-224-5190

Matthew Keyes (Brown) 202-224-3978

https://bit.ly/2sALNBL

Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 10:29 am
by Administrator
GOOD NEWS on the HCTC.

I just received an email from the NRLN stating the HCTC has been extended for another year.

Thanks to all the members here who contacted their congressperson asking for this.

Below is the email I received from the NRLN


Three bills supported by the NRLN were enacted last week as part of the $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2020 appropriations bill. These included a one-year extension of the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), the Setting Every Community up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) and the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES Act).

On November 25, an Action Alert was issued asking NRLN grassroots advocates to send the NRLN's sample letter to urge their members of Congress to extend HCTC which was scheduled to expire on December 31.

Since 2002, the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) has helped retirees who lost their health care coverage -- in addition to their pensions and other benefits -- when their employers either went bankrupt or laid off workers due to foreign trade. This refundable tax credit pays 72.5% of qualified health insurance premiums for eligible individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 (before Medicare eligibility) and their families.

Among those who have benefited from HCTC are members of the NRLN AVAYA Retirees Chapter after AVAYA (a Lucent Technologies spinoff) declared bankruptcy and the salaried pension plan was taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on November 30, 2017. The Avaya retirees who have been participating in HCTC will benefit from the extension of the program.

The Action Alert caused 4,700 letters to be sent to Representatives and Senators. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said on December 19 that the HCTC would be part of the spending bill and extend HCTC to the end of 2020. Senator Brown along with Ohio Senator Rob Portman introduced the HCTC bill in the Senate and Rep. Michael Turner (OH-10) had introduced companion the bill to extend HCTC in the House.

This is an example of members of NRLN associations and chapters banding together to communicate to Congress the importance of the HCTC program.

Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Wed Dec 25, 2019 6:07 pm
by rpuckett23
Merry Christmas all...............Vern great job on HCTC


I am looking to get folks interested in stretch IRA laws........lots of us left Avaya with 401k that rolled into IRA.

The new law is terrible for us.

Any thoughts?

Do you know of anyone working this?

Re: Actioin Alert - HCTC

PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 5:01 pm
by Administrator
rpuckett23 wrote:Merry Christmas all...............Vern great job on HCTC


I am looking to get folks interested in stretch IRA laws........lots of us left Avaya with 401k that rolled into IRA.

The new law is terrible for us.

Any thoughts?

Do you know of anyone working this?


Please post this under a new thread and provide more details.

Are you referring to inherited IRAs that must be used within 10 years?