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Don't get sick or use healthcare services unless it is an emergency. Everyone should have a credit card with no balance locked away to pay the out-of-pocket if they don't have the cash.
This is a simple thread asking how the law works and the stupidity of some of these posts is amazing. I think the current events section wants some of it's crew back.
Without discussing the merits and pitfalls of the ACA and fairness issues or whether the IRS will bother auditing a tax return just to find out really if the taxpayer has health insurance; getting to the root cause of your friend's dilemma (doesn't have health insurance, doesn't make enough to buy own insurance, doesn't make enough to pay the penalty for not having insurance), if it was your friend that was posting here in this forum, this is the advice he'd probably get:
1. Don't be poor
2. Do whatever you have to do to not be poor
3. Don't make excuses for staying poor
4. Be receptive to honest, critical feedback regarding life decisions
If he's that poor ($20k a year?), honestly I think he'd have bigger day to day financial worries than the penalty for not having health insurance. He needs to focus on doing whatever he can to make more money.
NOBODY has explained how a $6,250 maximum out of pocket over twelve months is affordable to someone earning $20K over the same twelve months.
How would $400,000 be affordable then? Again, he would only pay this if he gets huge medical bills for a significant illness. You think its better for taxpayers to foot the entire $400,000 bill through charity care than to have this guy default just on his $6000 portion? That's better for the country, really? The guy may or may not be able to pay his co-pay, but his insurance company is going to pick up the other $394,000 rather than the state, so to me it's a win-win.
A vote for Public Option would have eliminated your friend's problems. Vote for Bernie.
No judgement on your friend here. All I can tell you is that I have received my W2 (company provided insurance) and there is a field with a number in it, I believe estimating the company's cost to insure me in 2015 that i did have to enter when I did my taxes. I guess we'll see. My sister will be in the same boat.
No judgement on your friend here. All I can tell you is that I have received my W2 (company provided insurance) and there is a field with a number in it, I believe estimating the company's cost to insure me in 2015 that i did have to enter when I did my taxes. I guess we'll see. My sister will be in the same boat.
I too had the employer's cost of my insurance on the W-2 form. But it did not go anywhere that I am aware of on my tax forms. Turbo tax just asked if I was insured and for how many months--12 for me.
BUT that information in the box on the W-2 form does communicate with the IRS that one had insurance.
If you're low income you probably can't afford that 9 percent, especially when the rent is too damn high and you've got student debt to repay.
Then you simply work more, find a better paying job and/or rent a cheaper place.
What is your student loan debt in? IS it one you can work public service and have it forgiven while paying only income based plan?
We have 4 sources of income here amongst the two of us, and have bought a house to replace a paid for mobile home. The mortgage is conventional and is only $140/m more than the lot rent on the mobile home. The mobile home was built with composite "woods", and was falling apart and costing us to much money in repairs. We qualified with flying colors. We worked hard to get there!
I DO know what it is like to be poor and homeless, collecting returnable cans/bottles on the side of the road to get bus fare to get to the DSS office for welfare. So I have been extremely low, and vowed I would never be there again. I know what it is like to work low paying jobs in service industries. I know what it is like to work two or three jobs to get what I need/want. I know what it is like to work 7/364 days a year with NO day off, except christmas.
I also know what it is like to be so ill you cannot function or stay in the hospital for weeks on end/months. I spent an aggregate of 8 months out of one 12 month period in the hospital while they tried to figure out how to make me better.
I also know what it is like to work a decent paying job and still work a second part time job for the "extras". When minimum was around $5.60, I was making $10, almost double. BUt I still had a second job.
I also know what high housing cost in a resort area is like. I rented a room first, then had roommates renting a house, sharing expenses. We each signed a separate lease, so I was NOT ever responsible for more rent than mine, but I was responsible to find a new roommate should one leave.
I also know what it is like to lose EVERYTHING you own to a house fire, to a home invasion, and to start completely over 3 times in my life.
There ARE ways of getting ahead while being poor. Got a tax refund? SAVE it and don't touch it. You lived without it all year, why not? Adjust your take home so that you can save {if you have the discipline} what would go to the gov't instead of a giant refund. SAVE $1 one week, then $2 the next, then $3 the next til at the end of the year you save $52 the last week. YOu will save some $1378 at the end of the year with little difficulty. Even $1 a week is $52 more in saving at the end of the year. And if you miss $1 a week, you need to revamp something.
There are tricks to savings one can use.
One makes the life one can make,a but one can make it more enjoyable instead of complaining to anyone else who will listen.
Then you simply work more, find a better paying job and/or rent a cheaper place.
What is your student loan debt in? IS it one you can work public service and have it forgiven while paying only income based plan?
We have 4 sources of income here amongst the two of us, and have bought a house to replace a paid for mobile home. The mortgage is conventional and is only $140/m more than the lot rent on the mobile home. The mobile home was built with composite "woods", and was falling apart and costing us to much money in repairs. We qualified with flying colors. We worked hard to get there!
I DO know what it is like to be poor and homeless, collecting returnable cans/bottles on the side of the road to get bus fare to get to the DSS office for welfare. So I have been extremely low, and vowed I would never be there again. I know what it is like to work low paying jobs in service industries. I know what it is like to work two or three jobs to get what I need/want. I know what it is like to work 7/364 days a year with NO day off, except christmas.
I also know what it is like to be so ill you cannot function or stay in the hospital for weeks on end/months. I spent an aggregate of 8 months out of one 12 month period in the hospital while they tried to figure out how to make me better.
I also know what it is like to work a decent paying job and still work a second part time job for the "extras". When minimum was around $5.60, I was making $10, almost double. BUt I still had a second job.
I also know what high housing cost in a resort area is like. I rented a room first, then had roommates renting a house, sharing expenses. We each signed a separate lease, so I was NOT ever responsible for more rent than mine, but I was responsible to find a new roommate should one leave.
I also know what it is like to lose EVERYTHING you own to a house fire, to a home invasion, and to start completely over 3 times in my life.
There ARE ways of getting ahead while being poor. Got a tax refund? SAVE it and don't touch it. You lived without it all year, why not? Adjust your take home so that you can save {if you have the discipline} what would go to the gov't instead of a giant refund. SAVE $1 one week, then $2 the next, then $3 the next til at the end of the year you save $52 the last week. YOu will save some $1378 at the end of the year with little difficulty. Even $1 a week is $52 more in saving at the end of the year. And if you miss $1 a week, you need to revamp something.
There are tricks to savings one can use.
One makes the life one can make,a but one can make it more enjoyable instead of complaining to anyone else who will listen.
best of luck to you in the future....
Thanks that was helpful. The bad news is that my tax refunds get et because I have student loans in default. The good news is that I have a loan consolidation in the pipeline which will put me on an income-based repayment plan which I can afford and the tax refunds will start coming to me.. (Right now I have a garnishment which takes my tax refunds and leaves me with no financial cushion for emergencies.)
Previously I rented a room from an unemployed drunk. He rented a house from his buddy and then rented out the extra rooms at a markup so that he ended up living in the house for free. When his 99 weeks of unemployment ran out he got on VA partial disability and raised the rent more. The difficulty there is coming up with the upfront cash to rent a house, plus finding a landlord will will rent a whole house to one person who doesn't make a lot of money - this is where having a buddy with a rental property comes in really handy.
All I can tell you is that my insurance company sent me proof of 12 months of coverage. This is supposed to be presented with the return as proof of coverage. Also, a copy of this was sent to the IRS.
At the least, I think the IRS will look for that documentation either at their end or your end. I know they do look at this sort of thing and "compare notes" because they've caught small inconsistencies with my returns several times over the years.
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