The Internal Revenue Service and the Ohio Department of Insurance plan information sessions in Toledo Thursday for displaced workers about eligibility and application procedures for a new health-coverage tax credit.

The credit can reimburse them for up to 65 percent of insurance premiums through spring. Sessions are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Toledo Rocket Hall, Room 1520, at the corner of Dorr Street and Secor Road.

An IRS spokesman said as many as 12,000 Ohioans whose jobs were lost to foreign companies qualify for the credits, including about 7,000 steelworkers in northeast Ohio. In northwest Ohio, displaced workers from a number of companies are eligible, including Findlay Industries, Bard Manufacturing, Delafoil Ohio, Inc., and Spicer Manufacturing.

Information is available from a Web site, www.irs.gov (enter keyword HCTC) or by calling a toll-free number, 1-866-626-4282.

First Published August 11, 2003, 10:39 a.m.