Tax penalty on Health insurance

[timo900 0]

Hi, my green card got mailed to me two weeks ago and I am not yet working. Do I need health insurance and how long do I have to apply for it? What would be the cheapest and easiest way to get one? I heard the tax penalty for not having health insurance will be 2% of your income?

[teeak 224]

Its either (a) 2.5% of your income or (b) $695 per adult -- whichever is higher.

You need to have health insurance for the majority of the tax year I believe. The easiest way would be to look through your state's health department website. You say you're in California: http://www.coveredca.com/

Edited March 14, 2016 by teeak

[MariaR323 199]

You would need to have health coverage for the entire year or else you'd be subject to a penalty calculated per month, up to a maximum penalty of $2,085 for the year. At this point, you'd want to get coverage ASAP and hopefully have a plan go into effect this month of March - this would hopefully make you eligible for an exemption to the penalty for the first 2 months under the short coverage gap exemption.

And as teeak indicated above, for CA, you would go through Covered California for options.

[timo900 0]

Alright i did the covered california options and i have to put in household income and my partner has a mid-high income and it wants me to pay 160 for month?? IF i put only my income there..it says i could be enrolled into Medi-cal limit. Could I apply Medi-cal just for myself without having to state the annual income of our "Household" ? Because 160 in a month without me working yet sounds ridiculous..

Edited March 14, 2016 by timo900

[MariaR323 199]

When you say "partner" are you referring to your spouse? Are you married or single? If you're single, will you be married by the end of the year? And if so, will you be filing taxes together?

I'll give you a short run-down...

If you only state your household as 1 and only provide your income then you'll probably receive free medical coverage for now, BUT if come tax time next year when you file the 2015 tax return and you file jointly with your spouse then you'd have to pay back the credit for the medical coverage.

[timo900 0]

I am married

[DJ6372 111]

Welcome to California

You are between a rock and a hard place!

I was in the same stiuation, and we got fined, but it was cheaper than paying the medical insurance, mine was $350 due to my wifes earnings

Now the question really is, do you really want to carry on without medical insurance?

[timo900 0]

Yeah, never been in this situation since most of Europe has free healthcare haha. But i guess its the price i have to pay. Thank you everyone for your responses.

[yuna628 9,665]

Hi, my green card got mailed to me two weeks ago and I am not yet working. Do I need health insurance and how long do I have to apply for it? What would be the cheapest and easiest way to get one? I heard the tax penalty for not having health insurance will be 2% of your income?

Well deciding to not have health insurance is up to you. It's not against the law to not have health insurance. Typically the tax penalty is cheaper than the cost of 2-3 monthly premiums.

If you want health insurance you'll most likely need to apply with your state exchange, if there is no state exchange then you choose the federal exchange. Other options is to be on your spouse's insurance (if they have it), through an employer's insurance, or to buy your own insurance privately. You are certainly eligible for any of these options. Either way, there's a cost.

[QueenComley 295]

My health insurance ran out end of December (the company closed down). I have been calling a million different health insurance companies all morning and all have said the same.... cut off date for 2016 enrollment was end of January and that the cheapest health insurance I can possibly get now will be at least $200 a month - I simply cant afford this (my last health insurance plan had great coverage, including dental care for $100 a month). Had I enrolled before the end of January it would of been a heck of a lot cheaper. Im at a complete loss. My husband said not to sweat it - any charges on our 2016 tax returns will be MUCH cheaper than anything I would of been paying for health insurance throughout the rest of this year. I will be enrolling November 1st and will just pay any penalty when we file our 2016 taxes. My husband adding me to his health insurance he gets through work would make us out of pocket by $300 a month - its crazy. Its a no-win situation. I had no idea there was a cut off date to enroll. I hope you have better luck than me, Keep me updated if you find anything even remotely reasonable to what I have been quoted.

Edited March 15, 2016 by QueenComley

[yuna628 9,665]

My health insurance ran out end of December (the company closed down). I have been calling a million different health insurance companies all morning and all have said the same.... cut off date for 2016 enrollment was end of January and that the cheapest health insurance I can possibly get now will be at least $200 a month - I simply cant afford this (my last health insurance plan had great coverage, including dental care for $100 a month). Had I enrolled before the end of January it would of been a heck of a lot cheaper. Im at a complete loss. My husband said not to sweat it - any charges on our 2016 tax returns will be MUCH cheaper than anything I would of been paying for health insurance throughout the rest of this year. I will be enrolling November 1st and will just pay any penalty when we file our 2016 taxes. My husband adding me to his health insurance he gets through work would make us out of pocket by $300 a month - its crazy. Its a no-win situation. I had no idea there was a cut off date to enroll. I hope you have better luck than me, Keep me updated if you find anything even remotely reasonable to what I have been quoted.

There is a cut-off date yes. But there is also special enrollment which you are eligible for, especially if you used the federal exchange. $200 a month certainly is expensive, but is actually one of the most reasonable (I know not really heh) basic prices one can find nowadays for any major provider. It costs me and husband $400+ per month, with even worse coverage than before.

[DJ6372 111]

Before I set up insurance I used a walk in clinic, cost me $129 including 2 lots of prescription drugs

TBH if your healthyish its up to you if you want to risk it, the tax penalty is less than insurance

I drive 75 miles a day and my piece of mind is if some idiot hits me (very likely in Cali) then I have coverage

[QueenComley 295]

Before I set up insurance I used a walk in clinic, cost me $129 including 2 lots of prescription drugs

TBH if your healthyish its up to you if you want to risk it, the tax penalty is less than insurance

I drive 75 miles a day and my piece of mind is if some idiot hits me (very likely in Cali) then I have coverage

Its certainly a debate worth discussing. After a long chat with my husband tonight we did decide to get me health coverage for the rest of the year even if its going to be at a larger cost than my previous insurance... as you pointed out, you never know what might happen where you may end up really needing that health insurance coverage. Its such a catch 22 situation.

Edited March 16, 2016 by QueenComley