Obamacare Penalty

[DaveNot 55]

I wonder what the threshold is for the amount of months required in a year to have held insurance to avoid a penalty?

[MariaR323 199]

It's a monthly penalty... so for any month in the year you don't have coverage then there is a penalty. However, there's a cap on the max penalty.

[MariaR323 199]

Also, there is a short coverage gap exemption available where if you go uncovered for no more than 2 consecutive months in the year you are eligible to be exempt for the penalty for those 2 months. This is only if you do get coverage after the 2nd month though. See this link for more info: https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions-tool/#/results/2015/details/short-gap

For R_n_B,

Not sure what path you're trying to go here with the medical coverage or what you're ultimately wanting to do... are you planning to get coverage in January 2016 or sometime in the future for your future step-child? And if you go no coverage for the rest of 2015 are you planning to get coverage through a private plan in 2016? At that point you may or may not have a qualifying life status change event to add him to your employer plan in which case you'd have to get a private plan.

This whole Obamacare coverage and penalty situation can get tricky and very detailed. You need to work through all the details and plan ahead.

[R_n_B 4]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I plan to get coverage for my future step-son. The issue we are having is based on open season and having a qualifying event. You only have 1 month after marraige in order to add someone to your health insurance plan. Assuming that we marry in November, we would then have to do the AOS which could take much longer than 1 month. We were hoping perhaps to find an insurance plan that would take him without having a social security number but when we called BCBS they said no.

[Lemonslice 4,850]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I plan to get coverage for my future step-son. The issue we are having is based on open season and having a qualifying event. You only have 1 month after marraige in order to add someone to your health insurance plan. Assuming that we marry in November, we would then have to do the AOS which could take much longer than 1 month. We were hoping perhaps to find an insurance plan that would take him without having a social security number but when we called BCBS they said no.

I have BCBS, I have been living in the US for more than 5 years and they still do not have my SSN - I would call them back and escalate as required.

[DaveNot 55]

Odd, I had no idea that it goes by per-month basis. I had no idea where I remember hearing that if you're covered 3 months out of the year you can abvoid the penalty. I guess this is totally wrong now... Either way, I guess I should have had converage from the date I filled for AOS in April, not when I started to work in July. So, I have I think April-September to pay a penalty for. I love how the penalty has increased over the years and doubled somewhat. I guess I'll have to start looking up if they calculate income percentage or max per-pers on. I don't know if its max "per-month", or max anually, as it isn't stated.

[DaveNot 55]

Never mind

However, if you went without coverage for less than three consecutive months during the year you may qualify for the short coverage gap exemption and will not have to make a payment for those months. If you have more than one short coverage gap during a year, the short coverage gap exemption only applies to the first.

If you (or any of your dependents) do not maintain coverage and do not qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your return. In general, the payment amount is either a percentage of your income or a flat dollar amount, whichever is greater. You will owe 1/12^th of the annual payment for each month you (or your dependents) do not have coverage and are not exempt. The annual payment amount for 2014 is the greater of:

• 1 percent of your household income that is above the tax return threshold for your filing status, such as Married Filing Jointly or single, or
• Your family’s flat dollar amount, which is $95 per adult and $47.50 per child, limited to a maximum of $285.

I just wish immigration fell into a specialist category for a temporary period of time, given that it took me almost two months to gain access to the marketplace when trying and seeing several consultants because of their glitchy webpage and other issues, not to mention the redtape...

[yuna628 9,676]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I plan to get coverage for my future step-son. The issue we are having is based on open season and having a qualifying event. You only have 1 month after marraige in order to add someone to your health insurance plan. Assuming that we marry in November, we would then have to do the AOS which could take much longer than 1 month. We were hoping perhaps to find an insurance plan that would take him without having a social security number but when we called BCBS they said no.

My husband and I signed up online for our new BCBS plan a few days ago. An SSN is not required. In the documentation language, you can offer your SSN only if you wish to. It is not a requirement. That being said, as long as the I-94 is in order upon your arrival and the SSA official handles things properly, there shouldn't be any issues in obtaining an SSN.