Are Student Loans Deducted From Income for ObamaCare?
The lowest option I have is 400 dollars a month with a 13,000 deductible. I was informed that if I entered the fact that I am paying 2500 dollars a month in student loans that would be taken into account. It was not. So in turn I cannot afford to have insurance and have to pay a penalty at the end of the year. All this does for me is nothing. Could you explain to me how I get the affordable part?
Answer
Student loans aren't counted as taxable income (as you pay them back). This means student loans don't count toward ObamaCare cost assistance, but interest may.
In other words, if you are figuring out your income for ObamaCare cost assistance, don't factor in money from student loans.
Scholarships can count as taxable income, and thus they can affect cost assistance under ObamaCare (so do count money from Scholarships).
In other words, anything that counts as taxable income gets counted as income for ObamaCare, and anything that doesn't doesn't count as taxable income doesn't get counted as income for ObamaCare (as a rule of thumb)... and if you are confused see the MAGI link below.
Keep in mind that paying back student loans, and the interest on those loans, is not tax deductible in most cases either. The one exception is that you can, in some cases, qualify for a student loan interest deduction if your income is low enough and you use the funds for school-related expenses.
Make sure that your Marketplace application is taking into account all taxable income so you can claim the correct amount of cost assistance. When you report information to the Marketplace it estimates your credits for you, but you can adjust your projected Modified Adjusted Gross Income for deductions you plan to take.
Learn more about determining Modified Adjusted Gross Income.
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The answer did not suggest that it was for payments on student loans. My google search was to see if student loans can be counted as income to qualify for coverage in a state that has not expanded Medicaid.
We updated the answer to clarify: Student loans aren’t taxable, student loan debt isn’t tax deductible, scholarships are taxable, and student loan interest is tax deductible in specific cases.
Essentially, student loans aren’t income because you have to pay them back and the repayment is not tax deductible. Scholarships and other types of income that don’t have to be paid back can count. As a student you may very well qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid is a great choice for many as it is free or low cost. In some states like MA (where the ACA has essentially been in works for years) Medicaid can even be a better coverage than private options (especially when compared to lower tier plans).
I have my student loan to need to pay but is too much how can I reduce it and pay less?
Here are some ideas for how to reduce student loans: http://ticas.org/content/posd/top-10-student-loan-tips-recent-graduates
I spent many years of hard work to become a health professional with a specialty. However, I’ve also acquired a lot of debt in student loans along the way. I am making a relatively high income of close to 200k a year, so I don’t qualify for any tax deductions, but at the same time I am also paying $6000 of student loan a year for a 10 year repayment plan. After tax and paying the loans, I am essentially earning about the amount of a new college grad. My wife and I were looking at a $1500/month premium on ObamaCare because I don’t qualify any deductions. We are also expecting a baby, and that will raise our premium to over $2000/month. I really don’t know how I can afford healthcare for my wife and my little one.
I really hope that there is some awareness for people like me and would be willing to make a policy to ease our situation. There is a group of us who spent years of education, trying to climb up the ladder by working hard, believing the American dream, and have actually made some achievements. Only to find that the system established is, whether intentially or not, oppressing or perhaps suppressing us from achieving our flourishing. Your are looking at young professionals, lawyers, doctors, professors, architects, artists, etc; the rising pillars of a society. While our country is having problems with student loan, healthcare, and financial crisis. I feel like my colleagues and myself are getting the worst of everything and something needs to be done.
confusing as hell. Do you subtract your student loans from your income to figure subsidies or not?
You don’t count them as income for ObamaCare, but you don’t subtract them from your income. You just don’t factor them in.
See: https://obamacarefacts.com/modified-adjusted-gross-income-magi/