Last week marked the deadline to verify income to avoid losing, or having to pay back federal health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare). 300,000 people are expected to be affected by this income verification problem, and will be paying back subsidies to the government.
The big problem? Most people are not aware that they received advance tax credits under ObamaCare, but they will still be responsible for paying the government back.
During the 2015 tax season, Americans will be expected to pay back any subsidies they received, for which they were not eligible.
Are you at risk?
People at risk of having to pay back subsidies include:
- Those who obtained coverage on HealthCare.gov, and did not provide additional income information that melds with IRS data; and
- Those whose income changed during the year, and who failed to update their information.
An additional 115,000 people may lose their existing coverage for failure to provide the required documents verifying citizenship or immigration status.
Note – last week’s deadline applied only to applicants who purchased coverage on the federal marketplace. However, hundreds of thousands of additional people who got health coverage through state exchanges could also be receiving subsidies for which they are not eligible.
But what will this cost me?
Certain low earners may face limited repayments ranging from $300.00 to $2,500.00, but higher earners will have to pay back the subsidies in full.
If you fall into one of the above categories, you may be able to deduct some, or all, of the repayment from your 2015 tax refund. If you are not expecting a refund, or if your refund is not enough to cover the repayment, you can expect to write a check to the government.
In our next blog post, we will keep you informed of related issues. To get this important information delivered directly to your mail box, Click here to Subscribe
Do you need help determining whether you are at risk of repayment, and need help understanding ObamaCare? We can help. To contact us about your possible repayment, the Affordable Care Act, or your other legal needs: CLICK HERE.
