Author Topic: Unemployed... ACA questions  (Read 2582 times)

drudgep

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Unemployed... ACA questions
« on: October 25, 2017, 03:17:55 PM »
Hey all,

Unfortunately, I was recently terminated at the job I was at... I'm looking at COBRA for my family and had a question on ACA and income.... so because I have made a decent amount of money this year around 80K, do I qualify for any sort of subsidies? Or is it based off of AGI- in which mine is significantly lower due to contributions, etc.

Any advice in this scenario? Cobra will bleed us dry I believe, so I was hoping I could get some help from ACA...

Also does anyone know if I should do COBRA through the end of this year, or ACA next year? We are expecting an addition to our family and I have pretty much made our deductible so far.

dandarc

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2017, 03:29:17 PM »
I believe the subsidies are ultimately based on your full-year income.

As far as if COBRA is better or going to ACA now - that depends on your individual situation.  Not nearly enough info to hazard a guess.

So, I'll tell you what my wife and I just did when she left her job recently.  COBRA was going to be nearly $1600 per month for the two of us.  We found that ACA plans that were HSA-eligible were, in all likelihood, going to be the best bet for us going forward.  Premium for said plan is $725 / month.  We were covered under her work insurance up to 9/30.  We decided to just switch to the ACA plan effective on 10/1 - taking a calculated risk that nothing overly bad will happen in the last quarter of this year - the $2400 in premium savings pays for quite a bit of healthcare, but if one or both of us ends up in the hospital before next year, it'll cost quite a bit more than COBRA would have.

dandarc

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2017, 03:33:19 PM »
We are expecting an addition to our family and I have pretty much made our deductible so far.
Missed this before my earlier post - you probably want to stay on your current insurance the baby comes or the end of the year hits.  Unless the COBRA is just ridiculously expensive.  I mean, the best thing to do would be to find out what you would pay under each scenario - getting quotes from hospitals and such, but odds are if the baby is due this year and you've already hit your deductible, your current insurance is probably the best bet.

And congratulations and good luck!

geekette

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2017, 04:33:26 PM »
You would qualify for an ACA plan for the remainder of 2017, but subsidies depend on how many in your family and your MAGI (for all of 2017, I believe).  If you will have made less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level for your family size, you'd qualify for a subsidy.  They just put up 2018 plans today, so I don't have a link to 2017 plans, you'd have to create an account and start an application to find them.

You'll probably be better off staying on COBRA for the last couple months if you've met your deductible, but apply for an ACA plan for next year by the 12/15 deadline unless you're already employed by then.

drudgep

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2017, 05:48:17 PM »
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback!

Random question: How does a rental property factor into Magi? Does it count depreciation and repairs? Anyone know?

geekette

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2017, 06:03:09 PM »
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback!

Random question: How does a rental property factor into Magi? Does it count depreciation and repairs? Anyone know?

Per the Healthcare.gov site linked above, it's net rental income.

BlueMR2

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Re: Unemployed... ACA questions
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2017, 06:17:04 PM »
Also does anyone know if I should do COBRA through the end of this year, or ACA next year? We are expecting an addition to our family and I have pretty much made our deductible so far.

Hard to know for sure without knowing too much about your situation.  I can say that the couple of times I was eligible for COBRA in the past, it was never the best choice (pre-ACA).  I was always able to do much better on my own in the private market.  COBRA was MUCH higher cost...