Congressman Steven Horsford Statement on Rule Allowing Nevada's Furloughed Workers to Maintain Health Coverage

Statement

Today, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) released the following statement on updated guidance from the Treasury Department that will now allow employers that continue providing health insurance to furloughed workers to claim the employee retention tax credit (ERTC).

"This decision will benefit small businesses and workers across the country, and will encourage employers to keep providing necessary health insurance coverage to their temporarily furloughed employees," Congressman Horsford said. "Lacking health care coverage during the coronavirus pandemic imposes an unprecedented financial constraint on American families that prevents millions of newly unemployed people from seeing doctors to get tested or treated. I fought for this rule change to ensure that our country's workers do not face those risks while we battle the COVID-19 pandemic."

By helping workers maintain their existing coverage, the ERTC rule change would mean workers would not be forced to change plans, leave their provider networks, restart annual deductibles, or face a potential coverage gap. In Nevada, more than 440,800 workers have applied for unemployment benefits in the face of job loss or furloughs.

The ERTC, created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is a refundable tax credit against certain employment taxes equal to 50 percent of the qualified wages an eligible employer pays to employees after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. For each employee, wages--and now, certain health plan costs--up to $10,000 can be counted to determine the amount of the 50 percent credit.

Congressman Horsford has led the charge in allowing workers across the country to maintain their health care coverage. Last month, the Congressman introduced legislation to help workers maintain their job-based health insurance in response to an unprecedented wave of layoffs and furloughs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Worker Health Coverage Protection Act would provide federal assistance to cover the full cost of COBRA premiums for workers or the full cost of health insurance premiums owed by workers who are furloughed.

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