Questions

The penalty is a “Shared Responsibility Payment”. It’s officially a tax that helps ensure access to affordable, quality healthcare and to reduce healthcare spending (general welfare).

You only need to sign up for ObamaCare’s Health Insurance Marketplace (or another source) if you don’t have coverage through your employer or Medicare.

You can get whatever coverage you want, but can’t get cost assistance if your employer offers a plan. No matter what you choose you’ll need to shop during open enrollment.

You can file your taxes without a 1095-A if you didn’t get cost assistance. If you did, you’ll need it. Some states won’t have their 1095-A forms ready to be mailed or viewed online until the end of February.

You may be able to get a family plan that covers your parents as dependents (depends on their status). They can also get travelers insurance and short term.

Medicaid can require re-enrollment to prove you are still eligible. Contact your state Medicaid department. While you won’t have to re-enroll in Medicaid during open enrollment. You can re-apply or re-enroll at any time of the year. Usually you’ll be prompted to “re-prove” your eligibility.

Certain cancelled debt from a 1099-C can be excluded from Gross Income. Such is the case with canceled student debt, so it shouldn’t affect your MAGI for tax credits.

To get an ObamaCare plan you should go to HealthCare.Gov and enroll in a plan. It’s not your only option, but it’s the simplest.

When COBRA ends it triggers a 120 day special enrollment period which starts 60 days before the cancellation and extends to 60 days after. This allows you to get a new plan and prevent a gap in coverage. 

f you got too many or too few tax credits in Advance, then you’ll file the Premium Tax Credit form 8962 and adjust your credits. If your income was lower than expected you’ll be owed a refund. If your income was higher you’ll owe back credits up to the repayment limit for your income level.

Anyone under 65 who is the head of the household can get an ObamaCare policy that is eligible for cost assistance.

Large employers have to offer coverage, but you don’t have to take it. It is illegal for them to discriminate against you based on you getting cost assistance.

Cost assistance amounts are based on household Modified Adjusted Gross Income. The only other things that can affect cost assistance are being over 65, having coverage through work, or not being eligible due to citizenship or incarceration.

As a rule of thumb you have 31 days to pay your first months coverage. Call your insurer, if your plan hasn’t been cancelled then you simply pay your premium.

If you know you won’t need your plan for the full year, simply get a Marketplace plan during open enrollment, then keep it until you don’t need it anymore.

If you work part-time and have a low income, then you either qualify for an affordability exemption or free or low cost health insurance. You won’t owe the fee. The program is actually specifically designed to help families like yours and not punish them.

There is no law that defines what age a doctor can take patients at. If a doctor accepts Medicare and is qualified, then they can take Medicare patients.

You can and should cancel your Marketplace health plan before your new employer coverage starts. Make sure to drop your plan so that the employer plan starts when the old plan ends. You won’t want a gap in coverage. You won’t lose cost assistance eligibly until the employer plan starts.

If someone is claimed as a dependent then they don’t qualify for the exemption for “income below the tax filing threshold”. Affordability is based on household income

When you sell a home (estate) you can deduct most of that income and won’t owe the 3.8% tax, unless you make over $500,000 in profit. Since you can deduct this income, it doesn’t count toward your MAGI, therefore it doesn’t affect tax credits.

Medicaid, CHIP, and most other public insurance types count as minimum essential coverage. Regardless of your state’s name for their Medicaid program, you are covered.

The three month coverage gap covers less than three months in a row per year. So a person can go up to two full months in a row, but then must have coverage for at least one day of the third month.

You can go less than three months in a row without coverage without owing the fee each year. This is due to a short coverage gap exemption, this allows for things like changing jobs or being between coverage options.

It’s legal to cancel coverage, but they have to give you 30 days notice. Considering there has been no first payment, this may technically count.