(2009-02-19) Stimulus For Me

What can the Economic Stimulus do for me?

• AMT reduction, could be good for people from states with high State Income Tax. Nope, still got nailed. Maybe next year.

• COBRA Health Insurance Subsidy of 65% for 9mo

  • it appears the ex-employer is the middleman for this, not the HMO. And the timing seems very vague: will it be retroactive (to the date of the law)?

    • this March article says it's retro to Mar01: Starting with your first COBRA premium payment due after February 17th (most likely your March 1st payment) you are only required to pay 35% of the premium - but there will likely be some paperwork that you need to sign. If you have not received this paperwork, contact your previous employer and/or insurer and ask about it. If you end up paying the higher premium for a month or two until all the paperwork gets signed, you are eligible for a refund later.

    • this article also says that.

    • more importantly, Q23 of this Department Of Labor document says: If an Assistance Eligible Individual pays the full COBRA premium and is later determined to be eligible for the premium reduction, what should the plan do with the overpayment? The plan (or other person to whom such payment is payable) can apply the overpayment as a credit toward subsequent premium payments as long as it is reasonable to believe that the credit can be used within 180 days of the overpayment. Otherwise, the overpayment must be reimbursed to the individual within 60 days of receipt.

  • hmm, seems available only within certain income threshholds. Is that 2008 income or 2009-estimated? The subsidy isn't available to workers whose income in the year they would receive it exceeds $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families. So I guess that's 2009-estimated.

  • employer sent me form Apr17; sent to employer Apr21.

  • Jun24: went straight to Oxford: everything just went through in the last week, but not in time to adjust the Jul1 invoice, so I have to pay full amount that last time. But they said August will be invoice of $0 because of credit for past months (with additional credit left).

• UnEmployment: extensions; extra $25; first $2400 in benefits not taxable

• Food Stamps: nope, having 2 people on UnEmployment (at the max benefit level) is enough to reject a family of 5.

• lower mortgage rate for high-value homes, moving them from "jumbo" to "expanded conforming": does this only apply to new mortgages?

• reduce Mortgage Debt rates for households whose interest payments are a high percentage of income. Mortgage lenders will begin accepting applications after the details of the program are announced on March 4, 2009.

  • form was available at Chase Mar14.

  • I sent in Apr04

  • I called Apr22 for status. "It's taking us 30-45 days to respond, and because we set up a new system for this, we can't even confirm that we received your application."

  • Called again May11. Was "processed as input" (I think this means they made a file, created a case-number) Apr20, but no analyst has even been assigned. There's a new "expedited process", but that rejects anyone who's actually current on their payments! So he flagged the case to get a human analyst, with enough info to get us in the un-expedited chute. I should call back in 2 more weeks.

  • Called May27. The analyst has determined that the file is complete. But it's taking 90-120 days to process: starting from when the analyst was assigned (May11)! But call back every 2 weeks to see if things change.

  • Called Jun24: no documented progress.

  • Called Jul20: many forms submitted before "are time-sensitive... so you have to send us new versions".

    • will this be retroactive to the date of the law, or my initial submission? Chase does not think so.

    • Found this official central website. Calling their hotline for info/kvetching.

      • He does not think the benefit is retroactive.

        • Might be able to escalate if I go through a "counseling" session with them.

  • Jul30: maybe there's a conflict of interest here...