ObamaCare Tax Extension, An Extra Sign-up Period to Avoid the Fee


There may be an extra enrollment period during tax season due to an ObamaCare enrollment extension that would let people sign-up and avoid the fee.

This is because for many the first time they will learn about the requirement to get coverage, or how it affects them, will be when they file their taxes for April 15th.

An extra sign-up period would allow Americans facing the fee to avoid the much steeper fee for 2015 . The fee in 2014 is more than triple for lower income filers, and double for higher earners at up to 2% of their income.
No sign up period has been announced yet, and even if there is one, people may still end up owing a fee for the coverage gap they do have. Don’t miss signing up while there is still time!

Of course the fee isn’t meant to punish people, it’s meant to offset the cost of those who don’t participate in our Shared Responsibility toward healthcare by making sure they have health coverage. For this reason, and the fact that the head of HHS Sylvia Mathews Burwell said, “You’re going to hear from us, one way or another, within the next two weeks on whether that’s something that we would do,” we can expect something to be announced between the end of open enrollment and sometime in March.

If there is an extension it will be a Special Enrollment period and a related tax exemption. A reasonable window would be from April 1st to the 30th (to catch those who file at the last minute), however since nothing is set in stone there is no way to know.

For now, make sure to create a marketplace account during open enrollment. That will trigger a special enrollment period allowing you time to make sure your enrollment goes through.
ps. There is the off chance that this is a brilliantly timed, abet very mean, April fools joke by HHS and Bloomberg. Go to the Marketplace and find out if you qualify for low cost before open enrollment ends!

You can’t always trust the media, but you can usually save money on your state’s Health Insurance Marketplace.

Author: Thomas DeMichele

Thomas DeMichele is the head writer and founder of ObamaCareFacts.com, FactsOnMedicare.com, and other websites. He has been in the health insurance and healthcare information field since 2012. ObamaCareFacts.com is a...

Leave a comment

We'll never share your email with anyone else.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

ObamaCareFacts is a free informational site. It's privately owned, and is not owned, operated, or endorsed by the US federal government or state governments. Our contributors have over a decade of experience writing about health insurance. However, we do not offer professional official legal, tax, or medical advice. See: Legal Information and Cookie Policy. For more on our company, learn About ObamaCareFacts.com or Contact us.