Married? No Exchange Subsidy for You!!

[AllenChicago]

March 17, 2014

If a hetro couple with 2 children are getting married in June 2014, should they apply at Healthcare.gov as married? That will be their 2014 filing status, which is year to which these Advanced Premium Tax Credits are attributable.

There is no "engaged to be married" choice.. at hc.gov, but there is a "significant other". Has anyone ever had significant others apply together at hc.gov?
ac

 

[Ann H]

Look up IRS TD9590, and near the bottom is information about subsidy calculations for people who are marrying or divorcing mid-year. It's pretty long and intense. But bottom line, you get one subsidy for the months you are single, and an entirely different subsidy for the months you are married. Now, how you input that data into a hc.gov app is another issue altogether! Most likely, your engaged couple will apply separately for the subsidy, and then do a "life change" when they marry.

 

[RayNY]

Ann,

"your engaged couple will apply separately for the subsidy, and then do a "life change" when they marry." Is the winning answer as far as I know.

As we've learned, they won't be subsidy eligible if they fail to apply during OEP and hope the marriage creates an SEP. While marriage does create an SEP, it's only if they had previous coverage. The will have 60 days (as dictated by law) to report the "life change" and enroll in a compliant product. Eligibility will be re-determined based on the new "household".

 

[AllenChicago]

Look up IRS TD9590, and near the bottom is information about subsidy calculations for people who are marrying or divorcing mid-year. It's pretty long and intense. But bottom line, you get one subsidy for the months you are single, and an entirely different subsidy for the months you are married. Now, how you input that data into a hc.gov app is another issue altogether! Most likely, your engaged couple will apply separately for the subsidy, and then do a "life change" when they marry.

Thanks for that feedback and guidance Ann. To avoid all the hassle, the couple entered themselves as "married" at hc.gov. All went well..except for the children being sent to Medicaid, but that's another saga all-together.
-ac

 

[SamIam]

If they file a joint tax return then they apply together.

 

[Ann H]

Thanks for that feedback and guidance Ann. To avoid all the hassle, the couple entered themselves as "married" at hc.gov. All went well..except for the children being sent to Medicaid, but that's another saga all-together.
-ac

That's their choice. However, at tax-filing time, it will be reconciled according to the months they were single and the months they were married. There is a marriage penalty, since 400% of FPL is $45,900 for a single and $62,040 for 2 people combined.

 

[OregonDave]

My first 3 weeks in the industry I wound up talking down some guy I have no client relationship with who wanted to kill himself. It was very surreal and I contacted his psychiatrist after the call.

 

[AllenChicago]

That's their choice. However, at tax-filing time, it will be reconciled according to the months they were single and the months they were married. There is a marriage penalty, since 400% of FPL is $45,900 for a single and $62,040 for 2 people combined.

Thanks Ann. Will pass that along to the newlyweds-2-be. I got married in the middle of the year too, but it wasn't in this century. I THINK we did 2 single and 1 joint..but it twas sooooo long ago.
ac

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My first 3 weeks in the industry I wound up talking down some guy I have no client relationship with who wanted to kill himself. It was very surreal and I contacted his psychiatrist after the call.

Wow O.D., you dedicated 3 weeks to talking a stranger down from a building? You should be officially commended for not only saving his hide, but alerting his shrink as well! U-Go-Dude.
ac

 

[goillini52]

March 17, 2014

If a hetro couple with 2 children are getting married in June 2014, should they apply at Healthcare.gov as married? That will be their 2014 filing status, which is year to which these Advanced Premium Tax Credits are attributable.

There is no "engaged to be married" choice.. at hc.gov, but there is a "significant other". Has anyone ever had significant others apply together at hc.gov?
ac

What if they're not hetro...what if they're gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[OregonDave]

Wow O.D., you dedicated 3 weeks to talking a stranger down from a building? You should be officially commended for not only saving his hide, but alerting his shrink as well! U-Go-Dude.
ac

No, but that was an hour long call center call waiting for monkey to hang up. I was an unlicensed screener in a call center at the time, getting ready to start studying for my license. The statement about being a marriage counselor reminded me of that. I really thought that monkey was about to hurt himself. I actually can't remember if I contacted anyone although I'm pretty sure I looked up his shrink and at least thought about it. HIPAA though. I know I did whatever was most appropriate. It was a long time and many calls ago