Health insurance

[benkat9596 3]

Hey guys,

Curious if anyone is a tax/legal buff or even well versed on this topic (health insurance).

I moved to the States on June 23rd on a K1 visa. My spouse is still under 26 and thus insured via her mother, however I could not be included on this plan. So I got individual coverage effective as of October 1st. So I spent 8 days of June, July, August & September uninsured. We're both students and my health premium has just doubled so we cancelled my current health insurance, but I've landed a job starting in February that will offer health insurance so my question is, will I be fined for not having health insurance for the 8 days in June & All of July, aug & sept? & if I go uninsured in January will that be considered an additional month to be fined for or is it not an issue due to the fact I was insured in October, November & December so it is not consecutive?

Thanks all sorry for the long question!

[yuna628 9,527]

I'm confused as to what you mean by 8 days, because you've mentioned quite a few months, which of course total to more than 8 single days.

I would say it's hard to say actually. When did you officially become a resident (green card wise) to start working? You are going to have to answer questions about coverage come tax time. You could call the federal exchange and see if someone on the phone could answer this question, or perhaps a tax professional, and if you really want to be brave you could call the IRS and see if they would answer the question. But I suspect you don't want to jump down that rabbit hole (who would really?). If there is any fine for coverage I don't believe it would be for the entire amount (600+ and rising soon). There are some gap and grace periods, and when it comes to immigration these questions get very murky indeed. Did at any time your insurance send you a notice that you are to keep for tax purposes (showing you had coverage)? At any rate even if you do end up being charged a small penalty, at least you will soon be having coverage via the employer.

[Vizslafan16 2]

appears like the fine is pro-rated. Since you had a coverage lapse over 2 months you can't do the short gap exception....

https://www.healthcare.gov/fees/fee-for-not-being-covered/

[Denis & San 72]

This page should answer your question: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Health-Care/Understand-and-Avoid-Health-Care-Reform-Tax-Penalties/INF26340.html

• Short coverage gaps – if your coverage lapses for less than three consecutive months, you will not be charged a fee for the uninsured time.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,364]

Filing taxes in 2017, only 2016 counts, January 2017 will only matter when you file your taxes in 2018.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

Filing taxes in 2017, only 2016 counts, January 2017 will only matter when you file your taxes in 2018.

But if like us they are planning on filing "married filing jointly" he will be treated as a resident for the whole tax year of 2016. We are in an identical situation and I've been wondering the exact same thing....

[benkat9596 3]

I'm confused as to what you mean by 8 days, because you've mentioned quite a few months, which of course total to more than 8 single days.

I would say it's hard to say actually. When did you officially become a resident (green card wise) to start working? You are going to have to answer questions about coverage come tax time. You could call the federal exchange and see if someone on the phone could answer this question, or perhaps a tax professional, and if you really want to be brave you could call the IRS and see if they would answer the question. But I suspect you don't want to jump down that rabbit hole (who would really?). If there is any fine for coverage I don't believe it would be for the entire amount (600+ and rising soon). There are some gap and grace periods, and when it comes to immigration these questions get very murky indeed. Did at any time your insurance send you a notice that you are to keep for tax purposes (showing you had coverage)? At any rate even if you do end up being charged a small penalty, at least you will soon be having coverage via the employer.

Sorry, I don't think I explained correctly about the 8 days, in June I arrived later in the month and so was technically uninsured for 8 days in June and the full months of July, August, September. And after reading the tax penalties it says 'if one exceeds 3 months of being uninsured', which I did technically by the 8 days of June. Currently not a green card holder, currently have my EAD/AP after filing AOS! Haha, I think we'll wait it out, but it is for sure really confusing and definitely quite murky regarding what applies to who etc. And yeah, can't wait to finally get coverage through employer will stop a lot of headaches!

[EM_Vandaveer 2,364]

But if like us they are planning on filing "married filing jointly" he will be treated as a resident for the whole tax year of 2016. We are in an identical situation and I've been wondering the exact same thing....

There is a form one can fill out about having lived abroad for part of the year so you don't have to prove insurance coverage for the time you lived abroad even if you are being treated as a resident for tax purposes.

[benkat9596 3]

So to add to the confusion my wife just returned from Christmas shopping and I spoke to her about it, but as her mother technically claims her as a dependent for this tax year (as we got married in August) and my income was $0 this year, her mother will be filing her as a dependent. So I suppose I won't even be filing for 2016? Confusing! Ironic as I had just become completely proficient and happy with filing taxes in the UK before I met my wife! Haha!

Edited December 23, 2016 by benkat9596

[Ash.1101 1,755]

Low income or no income or unemployment can exempt you from being required having insurance. So you should be fine. I was only covered by insurance for Jan and Feb last year, I was also only employed for a week or two in May, I wasn't given the fine for not having insurance from March to December because I only made a couple of hundred bucks and was unemployed the rest of the year.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,364]

So to add to the confusion my wife just returned from Christmas shopping and I spoke to her about it, but as her mother technically claims her as a dependent for this tax year (as we got married in August) and my income was $0 this year, her mother will be filing her as a dependent. So I suppose I won't even be filing for 2016? Confusing! Ironic as I had just become completely proficient and happy with filing taxes in the UK before I met my wife! Haha!

Just because her mother is claiming her as a dependent doesn't necessarily mean that your wife doesn't have to file taxes. If her income is above the filing threshold, she still has to file, in which case in may very well be beneficial to file Married Filing Jointly.

Edited December 23, 2016 by EM_Vandaveer

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

There is a form one can fill out about having lived abroad for part of the year so you don't have to prove insurance coverage for the time you lived abroad even if you are being treated as a resident for tax purposes.

Thank you so much for this info very helpful I'll look that up.