Q. Obamacare advocates frequently talk about how most exchange enrollees qualify for government subsidies. But who is left out? Aren’t there some people who really want and need the tax credits who aren’t eligible?
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A. You aren’t eligible for government subsidies to help cover health insurance premiums if:
- Your employer offers comprehensive, “affordable” coverage – which means that it pays for 60% of a standard population’s average healthcare costs (including coverage for inpatient and physician services), and your portion of the premiums is no more than 9.83% of your household income in 2021 (note that the IRS might change this to 8.5%, to align with the American Rescue Plan).
- You have access to coverage under a family member’s employer-sponsored health plan, and the cost for just the employee’s coverage isn’t more than 9.83% of your household income. This is true regardless of how much it costs to add a spouse or dependents to the plan. This dilemma is known as the family glitch.
- You are eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or another government program.
- You earn less than 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL). This was not supposed to be a problem, as the Affordable Care Act called for everyone with income below the poverty level to be covered by Medicaid. But the Supreme Court ruled that Medicaid expansion would be optional for the states, and there are still 13 states where there’s a coverage gap as a result (there are 14 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, but Wisconsin does cover people up to the poverty level under Medicaid; tow of the other states — Missouri and Oklahoma — are scheduled to expand Medicaid as of July 2021, but the process is still uncertain in Missouri as of April 2021). However, if you’re an immigrant who has been in the US for less than five years and are thus not eligible for Medicaid, the ACA does allow you to receive subsidies in the exchange even with an income below the poverty level.
- You earn enough that the premium for the benchmark plan (second-lowest-cost silver plan in your area) is already considered affordable without a subsidy. Under the ACA, subsidies end abruptly when a household’s income goes above 400% of the poverty level. But for 2021 and 2022, the American Rescue Plan has eliminated that income cap. Instead, a household with income above 400% of the poverty level can qualify for a subsidy in 2021 and 2022 if the benchmark plan would otherwise cost more than 8.5% of the household’s income. For households that earn less than 400% of the poverty level, the percentage of income they’re expected to pay for the benchmark plan is lower than 8.5%, going all the way to 0% for those on the lower end of the income scale.
- You’re not legally present in the U.S., or you’re incarcerated.
Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.
I am retired and live with wife. I make less than 50k after taxes and more than 50 K before taxes.i have Medicare A&B
Will I qualify Obama or trump care act.
Can you clarify what things you’re wondering about qualifying for? TrumpCare is just a term that people use to refer to various health care reform proposals that Trump has put forth, as well as things like the administration’s expansion of short-term health plans. ObamaCare refers to the Affordable Care Act (which Obama signed into law in 2010), but it didn’t make very many changes to Medicare.
I don’t think so because you have medical, you should only be paying the govt mandated charge that comes out of your as benefits, usually a couple hundred dollars, which everyone must pay, and the you opt for a supplement like United health care that should cost you appx 150.00 per month, maybe less so for health care benefits after 65, your cost should be total of 300.00 and you may have to pay a deductible on doctors visits and prescriptions, I have Humana and they are great
The costs for Medigap plans (Medicare Supplement) vary based on the state, the plan the person selects, and the insurer that offers it. Here’s more on how those plans work: https://www.medicareresources.org/medicare-benefits/medigap/
My husband & I live in NY State I am on medicare and he still works. If he is under the 400 mark can he get on the on Obama plan with me even thou I am on medicare
Jeanette,
You cannot enroll in an individual market plan, since you’re on Medicare. But your husband can enroll in a plan through NY State of Health (if he’s uninsured, there’s currently an enrollment window due to the COVID-19 pandemic; otherwise he’ll need a qualifying event or would have to wait until open enrollment in the fall). His eligibility for premium subsidies will depend on your total household income, and how it compares with the full-price cost of the benchmark plan for him. Here’s an FAQ that might help to clarify how this works: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/i-am-on-medicare-and-social-security-my-wife-is-self-employed-and-needs-insurance-from-the-state-exchange-how-do-we-figure-our-household-income/
My divorce will be final very shortly. I was a housewife before the divorce and will now be receiving alimony which will be non-taxable for me due to the new law regarding alimony granted after 1/1/19, so won’t count for my MAGI. I’m 52 and live in Florida. My kids are grown and not dependents. So I don’t qualify for Medicaid. If I don’t have an income of at least $13K between now and Dec 31st (outside of alimony), I won’t qualify for ANY subsidies for the ACA, as far as I can tell, so I’ll have to pay the full cost of a policy. At age 52, the costs are very high, especially if I want a plan that will cover my prescriptions and not just be a catastrophic plan. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve been through the healthcare.gov calculators and that’s what they’re pretty much telling me.
Regardless of my personal situation, I don’t understand why people who make less than $13K don’t qualify for any subsidies. People like me (younger than 64, no disabled or underage dependents) who might not be able to find a job, especially in the current COVID-19 situation, need the help. Why couldn’t they get it? I can’t find any explanation about this anywhere. Thanks!
Nathalie,
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. The way the ACA was written, people with income below the poverty level (actually, up to 138% of the poverty level) were supposed to get Medicaid. It was intended to be a seamless system, with Medicaid for those with the lowest incomes and premium subsidies for those with higher incomes. That’s how it works in the majority of the country, but Florida is one of the states that has thus far refused to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid, which means there’s a coverage gap in the state. Florida could choose to expand Medicaid at any point, granting coverage to people with income too low for subsidies in the exchange. But until they do, there aren’t really any good options for people with income below the poverty level in Florida. Here’s more about the coverage gap: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/what-is-the-medicaid-coverage-gap-and-who-does-it-affect/
I assume you’ve already talked with a tax adviser, but I would recommend that you do so if you haven’t already. I don’t know how the rules work in terms of filing taxes for the year in which you get divorced, but it might be useful to know that the IRS looks at your income for the entire year, not just the months that you had coverage in the exchange. Best of luck!
We are a retired couple filing Married, filing jointly, and are under age 65, live in FL. If we can live entirely off the savings in our checking account for a Jan-Dec calendar year (not retirement accounts) and therefore have an income of $0, that would mean we would not qualify for a subsidy for Obamacare, right? If we want to qualify for a subsidy we need to show some kind of income that equals at least about $18,000, right? And then we’d need to be sure that the MAGI is also over 18,000. — Also, is there a required number of days you need to be physically in the US to qualify? We spend a lot of time with our daughter who lives outside of the country.
Yes, you’d need to show an income of at least about $17,000 in order to qualify for a premium subsidy in Florida (this amount increases each year as the poverty level increases). For reference, here’s how ACA-specific MAGI is calculated: https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/modified-adjusted-gross-income-magi/
You just need to have a home address in the US in order to enroll. You can keep that coverage even if you travel outside the country, and your premium subsidy just requires you to file an income tax return in the US. But keep in mind that your marketplace plan would likely provide minimal (if any) coverage while you’re outside the US. So you’d probably want to also purchase travel insurance to cover you while you’re visiting your daughter. Here’s more about how that works: https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/travel-insurance/
My son is 57 and has an income of 21,000 per year. Within that income is interest from CD’s. Does he still qualify for the Marketplace insurance or medicaid?
Here’s an overview of how income is calculated in terms of eligibility for premium tax credits and Medicaid: https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/modified-adjusted-gross-income-magi/
He’ll want to consult with a tax professional if he has questions about his specific situation. But in general, it will be his AGI from his tax return, plus (if applicable) non-taxable Social Security benefits, tax-exempt interest, and foreign-earned income. If he doesn’t have any of those three sources of income, it will just be his AGI from his tax return.
I have a son who is 21 and a son who is 19. I do not claim them on my tax return.
Can they get a subsidie from the oca. they are both student with little income
Since they each file their own tax returns, they can apply for coverage in the marketplace (exchange) in their states, using only their own income to determine eligibility for financial assistance (assuming they’re not married; if they are, their partner’s income would be considered as well). If they’re in a state that has expanded Medicaid under the ACA, they will qualify for Medicaid if they earn no more than 138% of the poverty level (that currently amounts to $1,467 per month). If they’re in a state that has not expanded Medicaid, they likely will not qualify for Medicaid, and will need to earn at least the poverty level ($12,490 in income this year) to qualify for premium subsidies.
Here’s more about the status of Medicaid expansion in each state: https://www.healthinsurance.org/medicaid/
And here’s more about why there’s a coverage gap in the states that haven’t expanded Medicaid: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/what-is-the-medicaid-coverage-gap-and-who-does-it-affect/
I am retired and my employer retired health care cost 1300 a month for my spouse and I. I draw 24000 a year from social security and withdrew 24000 from my IRA this year to get by for a total income of 48,000 gross for 2020. Do I qualify for assistance and would like to have an annual gross of 24000 next year and leave my IRA for the future.
Daryl, are you also covered by Medicare, or are you not yet 65?
If you’re not yet 65 and relying entirely on the retiree health plan, you can choose to decline that coverage and switch to a marketplace plan instead. See question 17 in this set of FAQs from the IRS: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/questions-and-answers-on-the-premium-tax-credit (in other words, the fact that you have access to a retiree health plan isn’t taken into consideration when determining your eligibility for a premium tax credit in the marketplace). With a household of two, you would qualify for premium tax credits in the marketplace with an income of $48,000 or $24,000 (on the lower end, you’d be just barely above the level for Medicaid eligibility in most states, but would still be eligible for a premium tax credit instead of Medicaid at this point; this lower threshold increases each year as the poverty level increases).
But if you’re enrolled in Medicare in addition to your retiree health plan, you cannot enroll in a marketplace plan.
I am a head of household who obtained a Covered California Blue Shield PPO for my dependent disabled adult friend. My friend had previously obtained In Home Supportive Services but had to sign up with Medi-Cal in order to get this service. She doesn’t use the Medi-onCal for medical services because it is inadequate to meet her complex medical needs. Is there any way she can continue to receive IHSS and still be able to keep her superior Covered California medical insurance?
You’ll need to reach out to Medi-Cal for a definitive answer on this. It’s possible to have private insurance in addition to Medicaid. But in that case, Medicaid is always the secondary payer, with the private insurance paying first. So Medi-Cal would have to confirm whether they can continue to provide IHSS if she also has private medical coverage.
My wife is injured and is about to loose her job at the end of May. She is going to apply for disability when her FML is up. She will need med. coverage till her disability goes through ( if it doesn’t get denied. Can someone help me find low cost med. coverage. I’m a 1005 disabled Vet. ???
If she’s eligible for COBRA, she can get it for free until the end of September (see section 4 here: https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/five-ways-the-american-rescue-plan-might-slash-your-health-insurance-costs/ )
And if she receives unemployment benefits at any point this year, she’s eligible for a $0 premium silver plan in the marketplace, although she would have to wait until July (in most states) for that to take effect: https://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/american-rescue-plan-delivers-0-silver-premiums-to-unemployed/
Depending on where you live, another alternative is that she may be eligible for Medicaid if her income drops to $0 after May. You can see more about Medicaid by selecting your state on this map: https://www.healthinsurance.org/medicaid/
Best of luck to you both!
My husband recently went on disability and I plan to leave my job in a month. We are both in our early 50s and do not get medicare. We will be offered Cobra but that will be above what we can afford. When we apply for Obama care, will they look at our last year income or our current income? 60,000 for him and nothing for me.
Your eligibility for subsidies will depend on your projected income for the current year (and when you renew in the fall, your subsidies for 2023 will be based on your projected income for 2023).
But they’ll be looking at your full household income for 2022, including the money you both earned prior to leaving your jobs. So although your income might be zero for the remainder of the year, you’ll still have to include whatever you earned since January of this year when you’re projecting your total 2022 income. But your 2021 income will not be taken into consideration.
The subsidies are actually a tax credit, so they get reconciled on your tax return. For that process, the IRS will look at your total 2022 income and determine how much you should have received in premium subsidies. If it’s more or less than they actually paid to your insurance company during the year, they’ll either send you the difference or make you pay them the difference. Here’s more about that: https://www.healthinsurance.org/faqs/what-happens-if-my-income-changes-and-my-premium-subsidy-is-too-big-will-i-have-to-repay-it/
And here’s how household income is calculated under the ACA: https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/modified-adjusted-gross-income-magi/
My husband just recently became a legal resident with a green card, but is not a US citizen. Is he eligible for obamacare or not because of the 5 year wait on government assistance? Is Obamacare considered government assistance?
He’s eligible for a premium subsidy in the marketplace/exchange (if he qualifies based on income). But he would not be eligible for Medicaid. Here’s more about health coverage for recent immigrants: https://www.healthinsurance.org/obamacare/how-immigrants-are-getting-health-coverage/