How to opt-out

[caitlinsmom]

I can't seem to find where we can opt-out of Obama care.  We don't make enough money to afford the premiums (close to 16% of our income).  All I can find are fanatical blogs and articles (for each side) but no helpful links.

 

Is there a link?  Do I actually need to officially opt out somewhere?  Help a girl out please.

[Dandelion]

You do not have to officially opt out anywhere.  You simply don't purchase health insurance.

 

When you file your taxes for 2014, there will likely be a box on your tax form where you indicate whether you purchased health insurance for the year.  When you check "no", the government can then collect the penalty fee from you.  

 

However, it's my understanding (and I need to research this some more, so don't hold me to it), that they can only collect the penalty fee from you if you're due a tax refund.  In that case, it's deducted from your refund right there on the tax form.  If you owe taxes at the end of the year, there's no way for them to collect the fee from you.  They can't garnish wages, put a lien on you, etc. based on how the law is written. 

 

ETA: Here's an article that explains how the penalty fee is collected: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/does-the-obamacare-penalty-actually-have-teeth--144740030.html  In essence, if you structure your taxes so that you owe money every year (avoiding a tax refund scenario) the penalty fee cannot be collected from you.  

[zoobie]

https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-someone-doesnt-have-health-coverage-in-2014/

There's a link to the IRS bulletin covering the penalty and a link to who qualifies for an exemption.

 

Edited: You don't have to do anything to "opt out." You either comply with the law or pay the penalty (for which you may qualify for an exemption) for non-compliance on your annual tax return.

[justasque]

I can't seem to find where we can opt-out of Obama care.  We don't make enough money to afford the premiums (close to 16% of our income).  All I can find are fanatical blogs and articles (for each side) but no helpful links.

 

Is there a link?  Do I actually need to officially opt out somewhere?  Help a girl out please.

 

As I understand it, no one is going to enroll you in a plan without your permission.  You do not need to do anything if you don't wish to have coverage.  At tax time, you would have a fee to pay, but if the least expensive plan is more than a certain percentage of your income, that would be waived, which seems like it would be the case if you've done the math right.  

 

Did you go online to healthcare.gov and look at the available plans, as well as the subsidies that are available?

 

What is your plan to pay for routine health care and emergencies? 

 

This article seems to minimize hype; I do not know if it is accurate.

 

 

 

[caitlinsmom]

https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-someone-doesnt-have-health-coverage-in-2014/

There's a link to the IRS bulletin covering the penalty and a link to who qualifies for an exemption.

 

Edited: You don't have to do anything to "opt out." You either comply with the law or pay the penalty (for which you may qualify for an exemption) for non-compliance on your annual tax return.

 

Thanks for the link.  It looks like we will qualify for the exemption so I don't need to worry about this.  That's a stress relief for the time being. 

 

We use the healthcare system so infrequently (maybe $500 max a year and that's over estimating I'm sure) that I was panicking about putting out that much extra money, not that it was an option. lol.

[creekland]

 

We use the healthcare system so infrequently (maybe $500 max a year and that's over estimating I'm sure) that I was panicking about putting out that much extra money, not that it was an option. lol.

 

I'm not sure what your situation is... but I just have to add that it's playing with fire to have nothing.  We opt for health share (a legal exemption if it works for you) over insurance.  BTDT with both types and health sharing is far superior IME, but again, it doesn't work for everyone.

 

Like you, we rarely had any medical needs for the past oodles of years and anything we did have could easily have been covered by the amount we paid monthly in almost any given year... but... just today I received notice in the mail of $6000 worth of bills our health share is covering... and it's only the beginning for us.

 

Also just today we're sending a donation to someone who spent 6 weeks in the hospital with that flesh eating bacteria.  I'm sure our donation barely puts a dent into his bills for those 6 weeks.  It could have all been covered had he been a member, but he wasn't.  Now who knows if he's looking at bankruptcy, other charity, or merely months and months of paying what he can - loads of stress on TOP of his illness. It can't be fun.

 

One never knows.  Big ticket items just aren't planned.  I shudder whenever I hear of anyone opting for nothing - and I feel for those who can't afford anything...

 

 

[duckabell]

So I agree with what's been posted about you just don't buy insurance, and at least you know you won't be penalized.  If you want some type of coverage outside of the exchange here are a few interesting things I've found.

 

1. Purchase life insurance with a "Critical illness component".  This article explains it, but you essentially buy say a $200,000 life insurance policy and if something happens and it costs $30,000 then the life insurance company pays the $30,0000 and your policy is now worth $170,000.  In addition, you could raise the medical limits on your car insurance so that if you were in an accident you'd have more medical coverage.

 

2. Join a health share organization, although these aren't technically insurance and you have no legal repercussions if you don't get your expenses paid by the network. You also have to sign a statement of belief. I wouldn't be surprised if more of these are started by different religious groups or with very lax religious standards.

 

3. Sign up for a plan through ehealth or a similar website that starts the last few days of December 2013 (you'd need to do it soon). Since it's a 2013 plan it won't have to comply with Obamacare mandates (such as maternity and mental health care) until it's up for renewal the end of 2014. We chose this and it's saving us $5,000 in premiums versus buying a plan that starts Jan 1st 2014.

[Trish]

If anyone has signed up for Obamacare through Healthcare.gov, and feel you've successfully enrolled and bought a plan, is there a way of knowing that you've paid for and now have the plan? (This is based on the discussion of the "back end" of the website not being finished, so insurers are not receiving either payments, or possibly the info that you've enrolled)

 

HAS anyone paid through the website? Or do you enroll through the website and then pay and confirm your status in some other way?

 

Just wondering how people are confirming their status for 2014 -- I'm assuming no one wants a surprise if they have a hospitalization or something like that.

[Carrie12345]

I'm not sure what your situation is... but I just have to add that it's playing with fire to have nothing.  We opt for health share (a legal exemption if it works for you) over insurance.  BTDT with both types and health sharing is far superior IME, but again, it doesn't work for everyone.

 

Like you, we rarely had any medical needs for the past oodles of years and anything we did have could easily have been covered by the amount we paid monthly in almost any given year... but... just today I received notice in the mail of $6000 worth of bills our health share is covering... and it's only the beginning for us.

 

Also just today we're sending a donation to someone who spent 6 weeks in the hospital with that flesh eating bacteria.  I'm sure our donation barely puts a dent into his bills for those 6 weeks.  It could have all been covered had he been a member, but he wasn't.  Now who knows if he's looking at bankruptcy, other charity, or merely months and months of paying what he can - loads of stress on TOP of his illness. It can't be fun.

 

One never knows.  Big ticket items just aren't planned.  I shudder whenever I hear of anyone opting for nothing - and I feel for those who can't afford anything...

This.

If the money's not there, it's not there. But basing the options on past history with 4 small children scares me. (Can they get state coverage?)

The first broken bone, stick in the eye, slip with a knife, newly developed allergy, or knock in the head with a baseball makes the $500 average nothing.

(Just thinking of the more prominant things my kids have surprised us with. Ooh, add Lyme Disease to that, lol.)

[Beth S]

This.

If the money's not there, it's not there. But basing the options on past history with 4 small children scares me. (Can they get state coverage?)

The first broken bone, stick in the eye, slip with a knife, newly developed allergy, or knock in the head with a baseball makes the $500 average nothing.

(Just thinking of the more prominant things my kids have surprised us with. Ooh, add Lyme Disease to that, lol.)

 

This.

We've had TWO appendectomies, broken radius/ulna in left arm THEN in right arm 3 years later (on a Sunday, calling in the surgical team), 4 different rounds of stitches, just from falling or tripping. 

I'm very internally stressed out in the ER during these times, but at least I know that  WHEN it exceeds $2500, we're covered.

[caitlinsmom]

This.

If the money's not there, it's not there. But basing the options on past history with 4 small children scares me. (Can they get state coverage?)

The first broken bone, stick in the eye, slip with a knife, newly developed allergy, or knock in the head with a baseball makes the $500 average nothing.

(Just thinking of the more prominant things my kids have surprised us with. Ooh, add Lyme Disease to that, lol.)

 

 

This.

We've had TWO appendectomies, broken radius/ulna in left arm THEN in right arm 3 years later (on a Sunday, calling in the surgical team), 4 different rounds of stitches, just from falling or tripping. 

I'm very internally stressed out in the ER during these times, but at least I know that  WHEN it exceeds $2500, we're covered.

 

 

I'm not sure what your situation is... but I just have to add that it's playing with fire to have nothing.  We opt for health share (a legal exemption if it works for you) over insurance.  BTDT with both types and health sharing is far superior IME, but again, it doesn't work for everyone.

 

Like you, we rarely had any medical needs for the past oodles of years and anything we did have could easily have been covered by the amount we paid monthly in almost any given year... but... just today I received notice in the mail of $6000 worth of bills our health share is covering... and it's only the beginning for us.

 

Also just today we're sending a donation to someone who spent 6 weeks in the hospital with that flesh eating bacteria.  I'm sure our donation barely puts a dent into his bills for those 6 weeks.  It could have all been covered had he been a member, but he wasn't.  Now who knows if he's looking at bankruptcy, other charity, or merely months and months of paying what he can - loads of stress on TOP of his illness. It can't be fun.

 

One never knows.  Big ticket items just aren't planned.  I shudder whenever I hear of anyone opting for nothing - and I feel for those who can't afford anything...

 

Thankfully thus far we haven't had big ticket illnesses or injuries.  If that does happen my kids are fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) covered by medicaid.  This will continue to be the case while my husband works and goes to school.  Once he finishes in about 3 years we will happily jump on the insurance bandwagon.  Until then, well there just isn't an extra cent to spare.

 

We have looked into the heath share programs.  I thought that might be a decent compromise however the monthly share was $320-$440.  Just not going to happen.  We do have low deductibles on our auto insurance, opted for higher coverage on the medical portion and have life insurance. 

 

I appreciate all your responses.  I admit to hoping Obamacare and all its mandates were going to disappear so I've never really paid much attention to it. :blushing:   Time to start reading I guess.

[justasque]

...my kids are fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) covered by medicaid.  This will continue to be the case while my husband works and goes to school.  

 

I appreciate all your responses.  I admit to hoping Obamacare and all its mandates were going to disappear so I've never really paid much attention to it. :blushing:   Time to start reading I guess.

 

 

OP, have you looked at the healthcare.gov site and gotten the quotes for the Bronze plans available to you and your family, and for any subsidies you may qualify for?

[Kareni]

Thanks for the interesting conversation.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[chiguirre]

OP, have you looked at the healthcare.gov site and gotten the quotes for the Bronze plans available to you and your family, and for any subsidies you may qualify for?

 

If you're in a state that took the Medicaid expansion money, you might now be eligible. It's worth checking out healthcare.gov or your state exchange.

[creekland]

 

We have looked into the heath share programs.  I thought that might be a decent compromise however the monthly share was $320-$440.  Just not going to happen.  We do have low deductibles on our auto insurance, opted for higher coverage on the medical portion and have life insurance. 

 

 

:grouphug:  As stated before, I do feel for those where the $$ just isn't there...  I wish you (all) continued good health!

 

But as soon as you can... 

 

I'm just in my mid 40's... and a teacher significantly younger than me also had a major issue that would have been far more stressful without coverage of some sort.  It's great when "bad stuff" never happens, but things most certainly can happen... and one never knows which column they will be in.  Three months ago all was well here too...  Not having to worry about the $$ is priceless.