Author Topic: Health insurance and Medicaid questions  (Read 1905 times)

juliette

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Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« on: April 12, 2019, 03:22:25 PM »
Hello,
I have a few questions about health insurance and Medicaid.
I plan to move my family (1 adult + 2 children) to one of the expansion states. I have not decided which state yet. My only income for some time will be interest from approximately $400K invested in stocks (taxable). I anticipate anywhere between 16K and 28K in interest from this account. If we qualify for subsidies, great! If we do not qualify for subsidies, we will probably qualify for Medicaid.
My questions are as follows:
1.   Are assets considered to determine eligibility for Medicaid?
2.   What happens if I incorrectly estimated my income for the year? Income from stocks can be very unpredictable. What if it turned out either more than allowed by Medicaid or less than required for subsidies?
3.   What if I do not buy health insurance for myself for one year? What is the tax penalty for that?

If anybody has experience with this, please share or pm me.

Thanks in advance!

Abe

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2019, 08:51:58 PM »
In general:

1. No, only income
2. If you make more than the upper limit for subsidies you will have to pay a certain amount back when filing taxes. For reference, this page has the payback amounts for the 2018 tax season: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4183466-obamacare-subsidy-pay-back-income-underestimation
3. The IRS is not enforcing the penalty under DJT's executive order in 2019 onwards. For 2018: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/aca-individual-shared-responsibility-provision-calculating-the-payment

Hope that helps!



Cranky

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2019, 05:13:17 AM »
Be careful - a number of states, including Ohio, are trying to enforce work requirements on adults on Medicaid.

juliette

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2019, 09:06:07 AM »
Thank you very much for your responses!
My understanding is that I have to make sure to have large enough income to qualify for subsidies.
So if my investment income is not high enough, then I will have to find a part-time job. Also, it is probably best
to overestimate my future income. This way I will get a tax refund instead of extra payment. I hope I am right.

FIREstache

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2019, 02:40:47 PM »
Thank you very much for your responses!
My understanding is that I have to make sure to have large enough income to qualify for subsidies.
So if my investment income is not high enough, then I will have to find a part-time job. Also, it is probably best
to overestimate my future income. This way I will get a tax refund instead of extra payment. I hope I am right.

Unlike the PTC, I've always heard you don't have to pay back CSR subsidies, so don't overestimate too much.

Cassie

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2019, 10:29:41 AM »
If you have more than 2k in saving you don’t qualify for Medicaid.

jim555

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2019, 10:49:15 AM »
If you have more than 2k in saving you don’t qualify for Medicaid.
That is only for elderly, disabled or the blind.  Expansion Medicaid is a sole income test.

Rocketman

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2019, 10:57:28 AM »
If you get marketplace insurance, you will get a 1095-A form to calculate your actual insurance subsidies. If you get a refund - great!  If you owe and don’t pay it back - here is where it will get dicey. The irs (according to my understanding) will not do all the really nasty stuff - garnish and lien. However, they will keep track of it. If you are ever due a refund -gone  it will be applied. I think interest will keep accruing. I am not sure what will happen if you send in an estimated payment on a future tax year - if they will reapply it or not - which could mess up that year.

Cassie

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2019, 11:18:30 AM »
Jim thanks for letting me know.

juliette

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2019, 07:04:51 PM »
Thank you very much for the information! This seems complicated. The entire health care system is disappointing.

jpdx

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Re: Health insurance and Medicaid questions
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2019, 08:53:26 PM »
Just a point of clarification on terminology. Stocks generate dividends and potential capital gains/losses, but not interest. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!