Obamacare yeah it's bull

[JimJesDuma 472]

13 minutes ago, Ash.1101 said:

When I filed my taxes, it asks how long I was in the US, how long my husband was in the US, and then for insurance, it asks if they were covered for the entire year, not at all the entire year or which  months we were covered.

 

Plenty of people don't because it's not  as affordable as it says it is for the working class. Personally, I've never -wanted- insurance. I go to the doctor once a year on average, usually for "cedar fever" down here, go to the urgent care clinic, pay 185$ for the visit, 30$ for medicine, and I don't see a doctor again. My husband is almost never sick. So when our tax subsidy only saved us 90$ per month making the insurance over 400$, we realized it's not worth it because we would run into the negative every month, and we don't even have serious debt or credit issues. Just basic things like electricity, phone, etc. We would have 50$ per paycheck (or 200 a month) left over after bills and insurance for things like food, gas to get to work, etc. 

I'll be glad when I don't have to pay the "fine" or penalty. We make too much to qualify for emergency medicaid, so it won't be tax payers paying for my stuff if I ever have to go to the ER, but since Texas didn't expand medicaid, we make too little to actually have obamacare be affordable.

There is no doubt that the Obamacare/ACA needs to be reevaluated to say the least.  Maybe you are younger and like many can take the risk if you want  and need no more than 1 or 2 trips to the doctor a year thereby saving some cash but all it takes is one bad fall or one bout of cancer and you could lose everything without proper health insurance coverage. The law requires insurance on our automobiles so it only makes sense that it should be required for our bodies. Some people say "keep the government out of it" Well if someone goes to ER with no insurance and that person isn't able to pay the bill then guess what it is the other tax and insurance payers who end up paying for the lack of insurance for the person who went to the ER.  Hopefully this revamp will get done in a bi-partisan manner. There are many positive things regarding ACA including the requirement to be allowed to have coverage for pre-existing conditions. They need to focus on the outrageous drug cost but pharmaceutical lobbyist will do everything they can to stop it from being addressed. I truly hope they fix things and you can get true affordable health care. 

 

Jim

[f f 725]

moving to the United states or even to a different zip code is a qualifying life event that let's you enroll in health insurance. you can sign up the day you arrive in the us. if they really press you for a social security number the k1 is eligible to get one and it is usually in your hands within 2 or 3 weeks. so it is perfectly reasonable to get health insurance within 60 days. a lack of planning on your part does not warrant  complaining about paying a fine.

[evli1966 88]

call me slow..

 

I am doing our taxes and have run into the siilar issue as the OP.

 

She arrived in June 22 of 2016 on a K1 visa and was insured beginning of July on my employers insurance

 

I have searched Market place to the IRS .gov and cannot find a specific exemption for her for the first 6 months.

 

Any guidance to where I need to look or what I need to do would be appreciated.

[Melodicdreamer72 3]

5 minutes ago, evli1966 said:

call me slow..

 

I am doing our taxes and have run into the siilar issue as the OP.

 

She arrived in June 22 of 2016 on a K1 visa and was insured beginning of July on my employers insurance

 

I have searched Market place to the IRS .gov and cannot find a specific exemption for her for the first 6 months.

 

Any guidance to where I need to look or what I need to do would be appreciated.

Well then, call me slow too.  I filled out our tax return (filed jointly) and ran into the same question.  The real question is - When does the responsibility for having health insurance begin for someone on a K1 visa?  Is it at the beginning of the year, when the foreigner is still in their native country (as it seems to work out on TurboTax)?  Is it when they first arrive?  Is it when we got married and fulfilled the K1 requirement? Is it when we filed for Adjustment of Status?  I've searched all over online for a clear answer and haven't come up with one. 

 

We are looking at over a 600 dollar fine for not having had my fiancé covered for the time before we even were approved for the K1 visa in the first place.  While we could go to a paid tax preparer, a person that may resort to the simplest solution of just having us paying the fine from the beginning of the year leading up to her coming here, I am hoping the community here has the answer.  I think most of us are here because we don't have unlimited funds at our disposal to blow on what is a pretty costly life move - marriage and legal immigration.  That may go without saying...anyways...We appreciate any clarification that someone can give.  

[evli1966 88]

In regards to coverage

 

Humana allowed Joy to be covered after we were married; had we been married in the Philippines with her there then she would have coverage.

However, my premiums would have went up to $400 a month and she would not have access to any medical provider accepting our insurance.

 

I am not sure about the Marketplace in regards when they cover people.

 

[evli1966 88]

I just found this and it applies because our fiances were nonresident Aliens that are here now but when arriving did not meet the resident alien tests.

 

Determining Alien Tax Status

If you are an alien (not a U.S. citizen), you are considered a nonresident alien unless you meet one of two tests. You are a resident alien of the United States for tax purposes if you meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the calendar year (January 1-December 31).

 

 

[f f 725]

in my non accountant non lawyer opinion the immigrant is not required to have coverage till they are married since until that point they have not completed the purpose of the k1 visa. once they have married it shows that they are actually  going to be staying and need to start following the tax rules.

 

it is self reporting on this anyway so it is up to everyone's interpretation..

 

good luck

Edited February 5, 2017 by f f

[yuna628 9,688]

1 hour ago, evli1966 said:

call me slow..

 

I am doing our taxes and have run into the siilar issue as the OP.

 

She arrived in June 22 of 2016 on a K1 visa and was insured beginning of July on my employers insurance

 

I have searched Market place to the IRS .gov and cannot find a specific exemption for her for the first 6 months.

 

Any guidance to where I need to look or what I need to do would be appreciated.

There is an exemption that can be claimed. If you are DIYing the taxes yourself or using a program, you may encounter problems because they weren't developed to understand very unique situations. IMO - by definition a K1 specifically is eligible to receive health insurance (purchased privately for them) as soon as they land, or more specifically as soon as they are married. By the federal exchange standards though - they aren't eligible to get on the exchange until they have proof of legality such as an AOS NOA1 or an EAD. In IRS definition it's determining if they are resident aliens. This is why it's a good idea to speak with someone regarding this issue to get a more definite answer. Certainly, if no health insurance is obtained by the time they have obtained a green card it will be too late, and the penalty most likely would apply (because they missed all their other previous opportunities).

39 minutes ago, Melodicdreamer72 said:

Well then, call me slow too.  I filled out our tax return (filed jointly) and ran into the same question.  The real question is - When does the responsibility for having health insurance begin for someone on a K1 visa?  Is it at the beginning of the year, when the foreigner is still in their native country (as it seems to work out on TurboTax)?  Is it when they first arrive?  Is it when we got married and fulfilled the K1 requirement? Is it when we filed for Adjustment of Status?  I've searched all over online for a clear answer and haven't come up with one. 

 

We are looking at over a 600 dollar fine for not having had my fiancé covered for the time before we even were approved for the K1 visa in the first place.  While we could go to a paid tax preparer, a person that may resort to the simplest solution of just having us paying the fine from the beginning of the year leading up to her coming here, I am hoping the community here has the answer.  I think most of us are here because we don't have unlimited funds at our disposal to blow on what is a pretty costly life move - marriage and legal immigration.  That may go without saying...anyways...We appreciate any clarification that someone can give.  

It is beyond me why Turbo Tax would conflate the issue and state it is when the foreign spouse or fiancé is in their foreign country. That doesn't make sense to me at all - because the person would not meet the green card or substantial presence test, they are not a resident alien, and they have health coverage in their own country. Again IMO it is not when the immigrant is abroad. They need to be in the US - and have waited a significant amount of time without health coverage for the fine to apply. I added my husband to my health insurance plan when we married. Since this was a private insurance this gave me the easiest and earliest opportunity to add him for coverage. The $600+ penalty is only assessed if the individual is without insurance for the whole year. Even if the penalty did apply, it would not be the full amount - I have seen cases where just a partial penalty is assessed covering whatever months had elapsed. And yes, you are right, a person may resort to the most simple answer without being aware, and just pay the fine. But if you knew there might be a potential of not paying such a fine, I would certainly go to a professional that knows the tax code far better than I. Americans should only be paying their fair share - and not Uncle Sam counting on ignorance and confusing laws to trick people into paying.

11 minutes ago, evli1966 said:

I just found this and it applies because our fiances were nonresident Aliens that are here now but when arriving did not meet the resident alien tests.

 

Determining Alien Tax Status

If you are an alien (not a U.S. citizen), you are considered a nonresident alien unless you meet one of two tests. You are a resident alien of the United States for tax purposes if you meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the calendar year (January 1-December 31).

 

 

And yes, it is true that the IRS has this determination, but that often clashes with the healthcare law - in that an alien is eligible to get healthcare pretty much immediately on a private plan, or within a couple weeks to a month depending on how fast the AOS NOA1 arrives in the mail for the federal exchange.

[JimJesDuma 472]

Coverage Exemption

(2) a nonresident alien or dual­status alien who elects to file a joint return with a U.S. spouse.

 

Code for Exemption: C

 

As we know K-1's are considered non-resident aliens until AFTER AOS approved.

 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i8965--2016.pdf

 

Jim

[Melodicdreamer72 3]

5 hours ago, JimJesDuma said:

Coverage Exemption

(2) a nonresident alien or dual­status alien who elects to file a joint return with a U.S. spouse.

 

Code for Exemption: C

 

As we know K-1's are considered non-resident aliens until AFTER AOS approved.

 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i8965--2016.pdf

 

Jim

Thanks Jim!  I read through that document and it does now seem to make some sense. 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

I don't know if this applies to anyone here but remember if you are filing MFJ and choosing to treat your non-resident spouse as a resident for the whole tax year then the same rules applies to the spouse as for a USC and they are then required to have healthcare from the day they entered but can also claim exemption C on the 8965 exemption-form.

Also to what Jim said, the K1 non-resident immigrant status are not the same as irs statuses for taxes. So if you have elected MFJ they are NOT non-immigrants for irs tax purposes.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Three guarantees in life:  Death, taxes, forced health care coverage or choose one of the following:  , A "fine", "penalty", "fee", "tax"...whatever you want to call it thanks to obamacare.

Edited February 6, 2017 by David & Zoila