Health Care

Extension Announced on Health Plans Not Meeting New Law Standards

Written by TurboTaxLisa
Published Nov 15, 2013
2 min read

Insurance companies offering plans that don’t meet Affordable Care Act minimum standards will be allowed to continue insuring individual customers on their plans for an additional year.

The announcement, made on Nov. 14 by President Obama, provides a grace period for insurance plans and their customers. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies are required to meet minimum essential insurance requirements for coverage.

Those offering out-of-date private plans that don’t comply with the new law were required to issue cancellation notices to their customers. Those who received the notices were required to purchase insurance in the Health Insurance Marketplace by the March 31, 2014 deadline.

Now customers with plans that don’t meet the minimum essential requirements under the Affordable Care Act can stay on their existing insurance plan for one more year without being cancelled.

What Does this Mean for Me and My Taxes?

If you were worried about receiving a cancellation notice, you have one more year on your existing insurance and you don’t have to worry about purchasing in the Health Insurance Marketplace to avoid a tax penalty assessed on your 2014 taxes filed in 2015.

What If I Received a Cancellation Notice?

If your insurance was cancelled because it did not meet the new standards under the Affordable Care Act, then your insurer has the option of possibly insuring you for one more year. It will be up to the state commissioners whether they allow insurers to continue offering out of-date private plans for one more year.

Check back with the blog for more up to date information regarding the health care law.

TurboTax is here to help explain health care reform and how it affects you and your taxes, so that you can make the best decision for your health and finances.

Have specific questions about how this impacts you? Get health care answers in our TurboTax community.

Lisa has over 20 years of experience in tax preparation. Her success is attributed to being able to interpret tax laws and help clients better understand them. She has held positions as a public auditor, controller, and operations manager. Lisa has appeared on the Steve Harvey Show, the Ellen Show, and major news broadcast to break down tax laws and help taxpayers understand what tax laws mean to them. For Lisa, getting timely and accurate information out to taxpayers to help them keep more of their money is paramount. More from Lisa Greene-Lewis

2 responses to “Extension Announced on Health Plans Not Meeting New Law Standards”

B DORSETT says:

January 31, 2014 at 4:53 am

WHAT IS THE PENALTY IF THE HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN DOES NOT MEET THE MINIMUM OF THE ACA. IT IS NOT A MAJOR MEDICAL PLAN

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Mike M. says:

November 27, 2013 at 8:40 pm

With over 5 million health insurance plans already cancelled to date and millions more plans predicted to be cancelled soon when the employer mandate takes effect, it will be difficult to undo the harm caused by the loss of these plans under the ACA. A legislative remedy appears to be in order. -Mike M.

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