Should I Buy or Pay the Penalty?

I cannot afford health insurance. Alabama is not included in the discounted exchanges, so the premiums to get what I need are in excess of $400 a month.

My husband is on disability, so has Medicare and Blue Advantage. Since he’s covered and I’m not, would his income, out of which we’re already paying premiums, count toward the minimum household income for calculating a penalty? Or would it only be on my income? I ask because we currently file a joint return.

I’m in reasonably good health, so to have to have major medical coverage I’d rarely use doesn’t seem cost effective. We’re trying to determine if paying the penalty is the way to go just based on the numbers, which seems to be the case to us.