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7/ TheBucknerClarion.com March 12, 2015 Obamacare Extended Some Taxpayers May Get to Forgo Penalty Recently, around 800,000 people who enrolled in insurance policies through HealthCare.gov received incorrect tax information and were urged to hold off on filing tax returns until the error was corrected. In response to this error, The Obama Administration announced that it would give several million people more time to buy health insurance so they could comply with federal law and avoid tax penalties. Andy Slavitt, the principal deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said that from March 15 through April 30, individuals who learn, when they file tax returns, that they must pay a penalty under the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual mandate can return to HealthCare.gov to choose a plan for the current year. Due to low awareness surrounding penalties, the Treasury Department estimates that as many as six million people will have to pay the mandate fine this year. "Our intention is that this is one year only for people who have not been in the communication loop around the tax penalty and whose first time learning of it will be filling out their taxes this year. So this is really a one-year-only special enrollment period," Slavitt said. Specifically, this "special enrollment period" applies to residents in the 37 states where the federal government operates the health insurance exchanges. CMS, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for sending out the 800,000 incorrect Forms 1095-A, not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In response, the IRS announced that if you filed early based on the bad form and received a larger premium tax credit than you should have, you get to keep it. Conversely, if you are entitled to a bigger credit, you can amend if you like. The new Form 1095-A won't be available until sometime this month. Form 1095-A, similar to a Form W-2 for healthcare, provides a month-by-month accounting of the subsidies consumers received to help pay their health care premiums. The impact for the 50,000 people who already filed their tax returns based on the HHS error has been vastly reduced. Now, effects are recognized as a kind of one-way street that benefits the taxpayer significantly. However, the 750,000 people who were sent erroneous forms, but who haven't filed their taxes yet, are encouraged to wait until the corrected forms arrive. Because not everyone who failed to sign up by the February 15 deadline is eligible for the new enrollment opportunity, Slavitt said that those who qualify must not have health insurance, must already have filed their taxes and paid the mandate penalty for 2014 and must attest they only learned about the fine after the original insurance sign-up deadline. Individuals who enroll during the upcoming period will still owe the penalty for last year unless they qualify for an exemption. These individuals also may still have to pay a partial penalty when they file their 2015 taxes because the ACA requires people to have health coverage for at least nine months a year. According to HealthInsurance.org, Missouri, alone, recorded an estimated 254,000 enrollees in 2015, compared to an estimated 152,000 in 2014. Under Obamacare, Missourians and citizens in other state citizens, who are uninsured, will be required to pay a tax penalty. To avoid being penalized, LegalConsumer.com suggests seeing if you qualify for one or more of the following exemptions: ● You are uninsured for fewer than three months of the year. ● You prove that you can't afford coverage - that is, premiums for the least-ex- pensive policy cost more than eight percent of your earnings. ● You don't have to file a fed- eral income tax return if your income is too low. ● You qualify for Medicaid under the new income lim- its established by the ACA but, because Missouri has not expanded Medicaid eli- gibility, you cannot take advantage of these rules. ● You are a member of a fed- erally recognized Indian tribe. ● You are a member of a health care sharing minis- try. ● You are a member of a rec- ognized religion that ob- jects to health insurance. ● You are in the United States illegally. ● You are incarcerated. You may be eligible for an exemption under other circumstances, as well. If you have proof that obtaining coverage would subject you to serious financial hardship, you are eligible for exemption. Every year, moving forward under the ACA, ObamaCareFacts.com warns the fee for not signing up will increase, and open enrollment windows will become narrower. If you don't have health insurance yet, it is recommended that you get a short-term plan to cover you until the next enrollment date. Fees may be unavoidable, but going without coverage is too risky, some warn. In some limited cases, insurers offer ACA qualified plans year-round. If you don't qualify for a special enrollment period, check to see if private insurers are offering plans in your region. These plans won't qualify for subsidies if they are purchased outside of the Marketplace, but if you find one, you won't owe the fee for not having coverage. For more information on what this extension period entails, visit http://obamacarefacts.com/2015/0 2/20/obamacare-extra-enrollment- 2015-march-15-april-30/. To contact someone in the Buckner area for enrollment help and information, call 1.888.344.3572. TAX YEAR 2015 TAX YEAR 2014

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