It’s been a rocky start, but the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) opened up their Health Insurance Marketplace so that people without employer-sponsored health insurance can sign up for insurance coverage starting January 1, 2014. There are subsidies for people whose household income is between 134 and 400% of poverty, using an income calcuation that is “Modified Adjusted Gross Income” + any non-taxable Social Security or SSD income. For those households who have income under 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, applications can be made for New Jersey Family Care here.
There are a lot of ins and outs to the Obamacare law. There is a mandate for people to have health insurance, but if you cannot find insurance that is 9.5% or less of your MAGI + Social Security/SSD, you can ask for a hardship to the mandate. You may have an adult child or parent who lives with you and is your tax dependent, but if they were no longer your dependant, they could get affordable insurance in the Marketplace or through NJ Family Care. And if you had higher income in the last tax year but are adjusting to a lower income amount now and for the forseeable future, you need to gather documentation to prove this so that you can get the maximum subsidy that you and your family are entitled to. Remember, the subsidies are treated like a tax credit if you file taxes. If you over or under report your income to the Marketplace, eventually, the IRS will want to reconcile that on your taxes.
Whether you are younger, older, single, married, divorced, with children or without, Fink Rosner Ershow-Levenberg is here to help. Have you been thinking that you need an estate planning “check up” anyway but have been putting it off? Make an appointment today, and you can get your estate planning done and your Obamacare questions answered at the same time!!