Health Care Five Facts the Insured Should Know About Health Care Reform Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxLisa Published Sep 10, 2013 - [Updated Sep 12, 2013] 2 min read You may have an understanding of what health care reform means for the uninsured, but do you know how it affects you if you already have health insurance? Whether you have health insurance through your employer, parent, or are self-insured, here are five facts you should know about how health care reform impacts you: 1. Since you are already covered, you don’t have to worry about purchasing health insurance by March 31, 2014. If you have employer-provided insurance, you can keep your current insurance; you aren’t required to take any action and you will not be subject to penalties as long as you still have health insurance in 2014. 2. You may replace individually purchased health insurance. You are free to change your individual health insurance plan by shopping in the Health Insurance Marketplace. If your plan ends before March 31, 2014, you can change your individual plan during open enrollment in the marketplace starting October 1, 2013. 3. If you’re under 26 years old, you can remain on your parent’s insurance plan. You can stay on your parent’s plan even if you’re married and not living with your parents. 4. You may be entitled to new protections under the law, including: – Health insurance companies are now required to cover people with pre-existing conditions. – Insurance companies will be held accountable for rate increases. – Many health plans will be required to cover free preventative health care like mammograms and other health care screenings. 5. If you have COBRA continuation health insurance, you can switch to a plan offered in the Health Insurance Marketplace. If you left your job and have COBRA continuation coverage, you have the option to purchase health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Please check back with us to find out the latest information about Health Care Reform. As with all tax laws, TurboTax is up to date with the latest health care tax law changes. You can continue to rely on TurboTax as your resource to find out how health care reform impacts you, your finances, and your taxes. Have specific questions about how this impacts you? Ask them below or get health care reform answers in our TurboTax community. Previous Post What is a Health Care Reform Tax Penalty [Calculator]? Next Post TurboTax AnswerXchange Gives You Personalized Answers to Your Affordable Care… Written by Lisa Greene-Lewis 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 Follow Lisa Greene-Lewis on Twitter. 61 responses to “Five Facts the Insured Should Know About Health Care Reform” « Older Comments Newer Comments » I am 49 and I have been on disability since I was in my 20’s . I didn’t get a supplement when I got on disability and I haven’t been able to get one . Will I be eligible to purchase one now ? Please reply. I need a supplement badly. Reply Hi Rita, You can use the calculator here to find out if you can expect a subsidy and how much: https://ttlc.intuit.com/health-care Ashley Reply My Manicurist had Medicaid Healthcare Coverage, for 3 years. Her income tax shows her GROSS income to be about $12,900 for 2012. Yest they are now denying her coverage, saying she makes too much. Maryland shows they DO have expanaded Medicaid, but I don’t really understand what this means for her? She is an American citizen, but her English is very poor, and she can’t read anything in English. So I have taken her on to help. Can you give me advice for her situation? Reply Expanded Medicaid didn’t start yet. Check with your state’s website to see when it will begin. Reply I’m Retired and have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Federal Health Benefit Plan. My Grandaughter just. Passed away AT 39 years old and left three children, ages 21,19, & 16. The 21 and 19 year old is in College. However, 21 year old just gave birth to a baby and none have Health Insurance. My question is; Can I put all of them on my plan? If no, what are my options if any? Thanks in advance. Philip R. Green Reply I’m Retired and have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Federal Health Benefit Plan. My Grandaughter just. Passed away AT 39 years old and left three children, ages 21,19, & 16. The 21 and 19 year old is in College. However, 21 year old just gave birth to a baby and none have Health Insurance. My question is; Can I put all of them on my plan? If no, what are my options if any? Reply You will be able to purchase them insurance thru an agent on the Marketplace. You cannot put them on your retiree plan. You can try to put them on Medicaid. Reply how am i to buy this for my grown child one of which is disabled (mild retardtion and mild kindeny failure) but does not quilify for disabilty and the other a college student who has to matain a full class load to keep her scholarships and we live in a very small town where there are no jobs for what are called normal workers and need no working around class times and our state is not expanding medicaid i am disabled my self so we live on just over 700 a month (no food stamps) it takes everything just to have a roof over our heads and some food on the table i have no money for this and they do need some kind of coverage the one in college just got told she can no longer go to school after this year without having some coverage and the clinic that i have been able to take them to(cost 20 a visit) is colosing at the end of the year i will have to choose between her being able to finish her school by buying the ins and us living in a tent somewhere free of charge to do this or them just not having any kind of coverage but a place to live and maybe the ones kindeys will go into complete failure and than we have to pay a fine because we could not afford to pay for this in the first place and we will not quilify for the help with the premium because i dont make enough money to quilify for that so what do i choose to have them corvered and be homeless or not to and have ones health get wrose and pay a fine when it does and the other who is trying to better herself have to drop out of school and they cant get corvered by their dad either he is dead so tell me what i can do Reply When we files taxes in January, how do we let the IRS know that we have health insurance so we aren’t fined? Reply Hi Jane, If you get insurance through your employer, they will include in on your W-2. Here is more information: https://ttlc.intuit.com/health-care/1896979-how-will-the-government-know-i-have-employer-provided-health-insurance Ashley Reply If you are self-employed, you will put the cost of your medical insurance premiums on the front page of your 1040. Reply As you know medicare premiums vary from year to year. They take it out of your social security whether you like it or not. I asked Medicare if they know what the premium will be starting 1 Jan 2014 and they said they don’t know! I asked my elected representatives and they said they don’t know! I asked AARP if they knew what the medicare premiums would be and they said they don’t know! It seems a lot of people in Washington don’t know anything, which is par for the course. We elected these idiots that don’t know anything! I wish someone could tell me if my Medicare premiums are going up under this socialist government so I can file for bankruptcy. Reply those are just a few little plus es what about the minuses ? and tell us is the Congress going to have the same kind of coverage we have, or the President and his family. and our old people going to have a cutoff for their operations saying they’re too old. and how about those that have an income but they are penniless after they pay their bills and have no money for health plans are they going to be arrested. and what about those that are working off the books collecting money from their boyfriends better living at home with them and still getting a because nobody knows about this broad is there going to be any investigations Reply My employer provides health insurance but it is what is called Limited Coverage. It only pays a max of 750.00 per year for doctors visits and any test or lab work and 7500.00 per year for any hospital stays. My questions is, does my company have to offer any better insurance? Reply Not at this time. 2015 is when penalties kick in for groups with over 50 full time equivalent employees who do not offer compliant coverage. Reply I do NOT want health insurance!!! Why are we being pressured to buy? Why getting ripped off? $95 tax penalty??? Why can’t have option to buy or not? Is America Free Country? or Isn’t? This is just getting too much control by men, of a human beings!!! Reply The $95 tax penalty is only if you make $9500 or less a year. The penalty is either $95 or 1% of you income. Do the math, and if you make more than $9500, your penalty is higher than that Reply Hi Don, Thank you. The $95 penalty per adult is assessed if your household income is less than $20,000 per year if you’re single and less than $55,000 if you’re married. If your income is higher than $20,000 then your penalty is about 1% of your household income. You have to take your income less the IRS filing threshold x 1%. So a single person making $21,000 penalty would be $21,000 – 10,000 = $11,000 x .01 = $110 If you make $9500 or less you are exempt from getting health insurance and will not be assessed a penalty since that is below the IRS filing requirement, which is an exception. See https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions/ For more answers to specific health care questions, please visit TurboTaxAnswerXchange.com Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Lisa, do you think there will really be a penalty for anyone in the amount of $95? Those people would be Medicaid eligible so they’d have credible coverage if they’d sign up for it. I think it was just a way to make the penalty sound low, but it’s not realistic. « Older Comments Newer Comments » Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Health Care Seven Things You Need to Know About Health Care Reform Health Care Health Care Reform and Your Taxes Health Care White House Delays Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate Until 2015 Health Care Health Care Reform Timeline: Important Dates You Need to Remember Health Care Facts About Health Care Reform Health Care What is a Health Care Reform Tax Penalty [Calculator]? Health Care Health Insurance Marketplace Opens Today! Health Care What is Obamacare? Health Care The Affordable Care Act Timeline for Individuals and Families [Infographic] Health Care TurboTax Health Care Eligibility Calculator
I am 49 and I have been on disability since I was in my 20’s . I didn’t get a supplement when I got on disability and I haven’t been able to get one . Will I be eligible to purchase one now ? Please reply. I need a supplement badly. Reply
Hi Rita, You can use the calculator here to find out if you can expect a subsidy and how much: https://ttlc.intuit.com/health-care Ashley Reply
My Manicurist had Medicaid Healthcare Coverage, for 3 years. Her income tax shows her GROSS income to be about $12,900 for 2012. Yest they are now denying her coverage, saying she makes too much. Maryland shows they DO have expanaded Medicaid, but I don’t really understand what this means for her? She is an American citizen, but her English is very poor, and she can’t read anything in English. So I have taken her on to help. Can you give me advice for her situation? Reply
I’m Retired and have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Federal Health Benefit Plan. My Grandaughter just. Passed away AT 39 years old and left three children, ages 21,19, & 16. The 21 and 19 year old is in College. However, 21 year old just gave birth to a baby and none have Health Insurance. My question is; Can I put all of them on my plan? If no, what are my options if any? Thanks in advance. Philip R. Green Reply
I’m Retired and have Blue Cross/Blue Shield through the Federal Health Benefit Plan. My Grandaughter just. Passed away AT 39 years old and left three children, ages 21,19, & 16. The 21 and 19 year old is in College. However, 21 year old just gave birth to a baby and none have Health Insurance. My question is; Can I put all of them on my plan? If no, what are my options if any? Reply
You will be able to purchase them insurance thru an agent on the Marketplace. You cannot put them on your retiree plan. You can try to put them on Medicaid. Reply
how am i to buy this for my grown child one of which is disabled (mild retardtion and mild kindeny failure) but does not quilify for disabilty and the other a college student who has to matain a full class load to keep her scholarships and we live in a very small town where there are no jobs for what are called normal workers and need no working around class times and our state is not expanding medicaid i am disabled my self so we live on just over 700 a month (no food stamps) it takes everything just to have a roof over our heads and some food on the table i have no money for this and they do need some kind of coverage the one in college just got told she can no longer go to school after this year without having some coverage and the clinic that i have been able to take them to(cost 20 a visit) is colosing at the end of the year i will have to choose between her being able to finish her school by buying the ins and us living in a tent somewhere free of charge to do this or them just not having any kind of coverage but a place to live and maybe the ones kindeys will go into complete failure and than we have to pay a fine because we could not afford to pay for this in the first place and we will not quilify for the help with the premium because i dont make enough money to quilify for that so what do i choose to have them corvered and be homeless or not to and have ones health get wrose and pay a fine when it does and the other who is trying to better herself have to drop out of school and they cant get corvered by their dad either he is dead so tell me what i can do Reply
When we files taxes in January, how do we let the IRS know that we have health insurance so we aren’t fined? Reply
Hi Jane, If you get insurance through your employer, they will include in on your W-2. Here is more information: https://ttlc.intuit.com/health-care/1896979-how-will-the-government-know-i-have-employer-provided-health-insurance Ashley Reply
If you are self-employed, you will put the cost of your medical insurance premiums on the front page of your 1040. Reply
As you know medicare premiums vary from year to year. They take it out of your social security whether you like it or not. I asked Medicare if they know what the premium will be starting 1 Jan 2014 and they said they don’t know! I asked my elected representatives and they said they don’t know! I asked AARP if they knew what the medicare premiums would be and they said they don’t know! It seems a lot of people in Washington don’t know anything, which is par for the course. We elected these idiots that don’t know anything! I wish someone could tell me if my Medicare premiums are going up under this socialist government so I can file for bankruptcy. Reply
those are just a few little plus es what about the minuses ? and tell us is the Congress going to have the same kind of coverage we have, or the President and his family. and our old people going to have a cutoff for their operations saying they’re too old. and how about those that have an income but they are penniless after they pay their bills and have no money for health plans are they going to be arrested. and what about those that are working off the books collecting money from their boyfriends better living at home with them and still getting a because nobody knows about this broad is there going to be any investigations Reply
My employer provides health insurance but it is what is called Limited Coverage. It only pays a max of 750.00 per year for doctors visits and any test or lab work and 7500.00 per year for any hospital stays. My questions is, does my company have to offer any better insurance? Reply
Not at this time. 2015 is when penalties kick in for groups with over 50 full time equivalent employees who do not offer compliant coverage. Reply
I do NOT want health insurance!!! Why are we being pressured to buy? Why getting ripped off? $95 tax penalty??? Why can’t have option to buy or not? Is America Free Country? or Isn’t? This is just getting too much control by men, of a human beings!!! Reply
The $95 tax penalty is only if you make $9500 or less a year. The penalty is either $95 or 1% of you income. Do the math, and if you make more than $9500, your penalty is higher than that Reply
Hi Don, Thank you. The $95 penalty per adult is assessed if your household income is less than $20,000 per year if you’re single and less than $55,000 if you’re married. If your income is higher than $20,000 then your penalty is about 1% of your household income. You have to take your income less the IRS filing threshold x 1%. So a single person making $21,000 penalty would be $21,000 – 10,000 = $11,000 x .01 = $110 If you make $9500 or less you are exempt from getting health insurance and will not be assessed a penalty since that is below the IRS filing requirement, which is an exception. See https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions/ For more answers to specific health care questions, please visit TurboTaxAnswerXchange.com Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis
Lisa, do you think there will really be a penalty for anyone in the amount of $95? Those people would be Medicaid eligible so they’d have credible coverage if they’d sign up for it. I think it was just a way to make the penalty sound low, but it’s not realistic.