HCTC EXTENSION SAMPLE LETTER TO YOUR HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE

(You are taking or need to take advantage of HCTC)

Note: Please personalize to your own situation, and change ALL the “I” to “we” if the letter is sent by a couple.

Dear Congressman/Congresswomen ______,

Please co-sponsor H.R.2783 to extend the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) for current PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation) pension recipients.

My name is ______and I am a retiree of Delphi Corporation with ___ years of service. My company went through bankruptcy in 2009 in connection with the General Motors Bankruptcy and I lost 100% of my healthcare coverage, 100% of my life insurance, and ___% of my pension. As a result of the bankruptcy, my healthcare costs soared. Thankfully,I was eligible for the HCTC and able to avert financial disaster. Unfortunately, the HCTC, which helps participants offset a portion of their monthly healthcare costs, will expire at the end of this year. This will result in significant hardship for all of us who rely on this critical financial assistance to be able to afford our health care coverage.

The good news is this doesn’t have to happen. H.R.2783 has been introduced that would extend HCTC past the December 31, 2013 expiration date. The bill’s sponsor, Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio, stated, “It is critical that we do not leave behind these hardworking Americans, like the Delphi Retirees, many of whom have had their pensions and healthcare significantly reduced through no fault of their own. Congress has the opportunity to extend the Health Care Coverage Tax Program to ensure that those who had their earned health benefits stripped from them continue to receive the affordable coverage they deserve.”

H.R.2783 would allow current HCTC participants to have coverage until they qualify for Medicare, which for many is just a year or two away. This will prevent thousands of retirees from slipping through the cracks and being without any health insurance at all. Those of us who have already had to deal with the unforeseen financial hardship of losing much of our earned pensions cannot afford to addanother extremely high cost at this fixed-income time in our lives.

Please let me know, at your earliest convenience, that you will help us by signing up to co-sponsor H.R.2783 so I can have affordable healthcare coverage until I reach age 65 and qualify for Medicare.

Sincerely,

Name(s)

Street Address

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