WASHINGTON DC (May 4, 2020) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E Neal (D-MA) requested that the Treasury Department reverse its current guidance and allow employers providing health insurance to furloughed workers to be eligible for the employee-retention credit.
The Treasury Department’s current guidance contradicts congressional intent and bars employers providing health insurance to furloughed workers from receiving the credit, making it more difficult to preserve coverage.
The lawmakers wrote, “As of this writing, more than one million Americans have contracted COVID-19, and more than 60,000 have perished. It is absolutely critical that American families have access to health-care during this crisis. Allowing employees to retain their employer-provided health insurance, even while furloughed, is an important component in ensuring millions of Americans access to affordable health-care.”
Full text of the letter is enclosed here.
