Nearly 26 million Americans will be eligible for premium taxcredits that will help them pay for health coverage through thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a newreport.

The report from the national health consumer organizationFamilies USA focuses on the consequences of one of health reform’scentral provisions.

The tax credits under PPACA will be determined on a slidingscale based on income. People with the lowest incomes will receivethe largest tax credits, ensuring that those who need it most willget the greatest financial assistance. Premium tax credits takeeffect in January 2014, following an open enrollment period thatbegins in October of this year.

“The tax credit subsidies are a game changer,” said Ron Pollack,executive director of Families USA. “They will make health coverageaffordable for huge numbers of uninsured families who would havebeen priced out of the health coverage and care they need.”

One glaring problem with the subsidies is though millions ofAmericans are eligible for them, most don’t know about them.Relatively few people are familiar with PPACA provisions that willprovide tax credits to low- and middle-income consumers to helpthem purchase health coverage through state-run insuranceexchanges.

According to Kaiser Family Foundation, 62 percent of Americansare aware that subsidy assistance is available to individuals underthe health reform law. And about two-thirds of the uninsured saythey don’t understand how health reform will affect them.

In its report, Families USA researchers urged states and thefederal government to work closely together “to educate the publicabout how the new tax credits will work and to make it as simple aspossible to connect people to this significant new source of helpwith the cost of health insurance.”