IRS helping some with health insurance

The Health Coverage Tax Credit pays 80 percent of health premiums for those who lost their jobs to foreign competition or whose pension plans were terminated, The Detroit News reported Monday.

"Thousands of Delphi salaried employees" have signed up for the benefit, said David Kudla, chief executive officer of Mainstay Capital Management in Grand Blanc, Mich.

For some, the tax credit means the IRS will pay $15,000 of their healthcare premiums this year, the News said.

Unless it is reauthorized, the program will return to paying 65 percent of healthcare premiums after this year. It was expanded to 80 percent as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

For this year, "it has literally made the difference for people who were bankrupt or foreclosed upon, where they have a chance to survive economically," said Den Black, spokesman for a Delphi Automotive LLP salaried workers retirement group.

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