Why Am I Penalized For Annual Income?
I was covered by Covered CA for 6 months of last year as my income had been cut in half and I became eligible for a subsidy. Now I am being told that I have to pay back all of the subsidy because of the amount of money I made for the entire year. I would have been better off just not having coverage and paying the penalty, especially since I never even used the coverage I had. How is it possible that I can be penalized for money I made after I had cancelled Covered CA as soon as I was reinstated to full time with benefits. A portion of my income from last year was money I had to take out of my retirement account to pay what I owed to the IRS from the previous year. This is not right to penalize me based on income earned after my coverage had already been cancelled.
Answer
The ACA counts annual household income, this is true even if you lost employer-based coverage and income. When you enroll in cost assistance you should project annual income. This can really be confusing, but consider, even if you pay back tax credits you were in essence being fronted the money incase you needed (as defined by the PPACA) assistance.
While it must be frustrating, this is why it happened.
Learn more about how income is counted for subsidies.