Health Care

Health Care, Taxes, and You: What Subsidies Offset Health Insurance Purchased in the Marketplace and Who Qualifies?

Written by TurboTaxLisa
Published Nov 20, 2014
1 min read

As part of the Affordable Care Act, to help people pay for coverage purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace, low-to-moderate income families and individuals may qualify for a discount on monthly insurance premiums (know as a premium tax credit), as well as financial assistance on out-of-pocket costs.

When you buy health insurance coverage in the Marketplace during this open enrollment (November 15, 2014 – February 15, 2015), the amount of your tax credit that you qualify for will depend on your 2015 household size and income, which you’ll provide on your Marketplace application. If your 2015 income falls within the following ranges you may be eligible. The lower your income is within these ranges, the bigger your premium tax credit.

$11,670 to $46,680 for individuals
$23,850 to $95,400 for a family of 4

You can choose to apply your Premium Tax Credit in a few ways. You can use all of it spread evenly throughout the year (referred to as an advanced premium tax credit), you can use part of it throughout the year, or you can choose to get the whole tax credit when you file your 2015 taxes. If you use less of your tax credit to offset costs during the year, you may end up with a bigger tax refund when you sit down to file your taxes.

To find out if you qualify for a subsidy to help you purchase health insurance, check out our free, easy-to-use Health Care Eligibility Calculator. You can also find out more about how to balance health care costs with your needs here.

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

5 responses to “Health Care, Taxes, and You: What Subsidies Offset Health Insurance Purchased in the Marketplace and Who Qualifies?”

Nadine Marrone says:

November 25, 2014 at 1:18 pm

We were not sure what our adjusted gross income was going to be for 2014 to qualify for subsidies and realize now that we will be under and eligible for subsidies. Since we paid the full amount per month for the insurance, will we get the subsidies we should have received back when we do our taxes for 2014?

Reply
- TurboTaxLisa says:
  
  November 26, 2014 at 9:57 am
  
  Hi Nadine,
  Yes, you will get them back in the form of a tax credit.
  Thank you,
  Lisa Greene-Lewis
  
  Reply
Terry Cuba says:

November 24, 2014 at 2:23 pm

How do I get an exemption form for not being able to afford the affordable care act. My Insurance got cancelled on Aug. 15. It went from 188 per month to 453per month. I can not afford it

Reply
- TurboTaxMaryEllen says:
  
  December 4, 2014 at 9:47 am
  
  Terry,
  Without knowing your income and family status, we cannot determine your eligibility for exemption. But you can go to the Health Care Eligibility Calculator at https://turbotax.intuit.com/health-care and complete the questions to determine if you are eligible.
  
  Thank you,
  Mary Ellen
  
  Reply
- TurboTaxLisa says:
  
  December 4, 2014 at 11:00 am
  
  Hi Terry,
  Go to TurboTax Health https://turbotax.intuit.com/health-care and our Exemption check tool where you can find out about specific exemptions, apply for an exemption, and ask more questions about the affordable care act.
  Thank you,
  Lisa Greene-Lewis
  
  Reply