If you’re interested in a government subsidy to make health insurance more affordable, there are several things you need to know.
1. There's More Than One Type of Subsidy
The Affordable Care Act created two types of health insurance subsidies. You can use both at the same time if you qualify for both.
The easiest subsidy to qualify for is the premium tax credit subsidy. This lowers the monthly premiums you pay to buy health insurance.
More difficult to qualify for than the premium tax credit subsidy, the cost-sharing subsidy is designed to help lower your costs each time you use your health insurance rather than when you buy it. It decreases the amount you pay in cost-sharing like deductibles, copays and coinsurance. It can also decrease the out-of-pocket maximum you pay each year if you have high health care costs.
2. Get It on the Exchange; Use It on the Exchange
The only place you can get a health insurance subsidy is your state’s health insurance exchange. The only place you can use a subsidy is on your state's health insurance exchange.
To receive a cost-sharing subsidy, you must choose a silver-tier health plan from your exchange. If you choose a bronze, gold or platinum plan, you won’t get the cost-sharing subsidy even if meet all of the other requirements.
Your premium tax credit subsidy can be used for any metal-tier plan on the exchange, but not for a catastrophic plan.
3. It's All About Income, Not Assets
Health Insurance Subsidies are based solely on your estimated income. The income in question is your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, for the year you’ll be receiving the subsidy. This has important implications.
First, if your income varies considerably from year to year, it might be difficult to accurately estimate your future income. Provide the best possible estimate of your future income and be prepared to explain how you came up with that estimate. If you estimate your income incorrectly, you’ll get too much or too little subsidy money.
Second, your assets, how much you have in savings, the value of your house and your net worth don’t affect your eligibility for a subsidy. All that matters is your income. You could have a million dollars in cash sitting in your bank account and still potentially qualify for a health insurance subsidy if your income is low or moderate.
4. Your Tax Status Matters
If you’re married, your filing status must be married filing jointly to be eligible for a health insurance subsidy. If you’re married and file separately, you won’t qualify for a subsidy even if you meet all of the other requirements.
5. Eligible for Medicaid? No Subsidy for You
If you’re eligible for government-sponsored health insurance like Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare, you won’t qualify for a subsidy. This is true even if you’re not actually enrolled in the government-sponsored health insurance. It’s your eligibility that disqualifies you for a subsidy.
6. There Are 2 Ways to Get Paid
You have two options for receiving the premium tax credit subsidy money.
If you choose the advanced payment option, your subsidy money goes directly to your health insurance company each month to lower the cost of that month’s health insurance premium. You never see or handle the subsidy money, but the amount you pay to buy health insurance each month is lower.
Alternatively, you can get your subsidy money in one lump sum after the end of the year when you file your federal income taxes. The entire yearly amount of the premium tax credit subsidy will be added to your refund check. If you’re not getting a refund because you still owe taxes, the subsidy will offset what you owe. If you choose this option, you’ll pay the full price of your health insurance premium each month during the year, but you’ll be reimbursed for part of that cost when you file your taxes.
7. You Might Have to Pay It Back
If you get more subsidy money than you should have, you might have to pay it back. This is especially important for people who choose the advanced payment option for their premium tax credit subsidy.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you apply for a subsidy for the upcoming year. You estimate next year’s income will be $35,000, and your subsidy amount is determined based on that estimate. Each month next year, your subsidy money goes directly to your health insurance company.
When you file your federal income taxes after the year ends, you discover that you actually made $45,000.
While filing your taxes, the amount of subsidy you received based on your estimated income will be compared to the amount you should have received based on your actual income. Since you under-estimated your income by $10,000, you received more subsidy money than you should have. You may have to pay back the difference.
There are three ways to avoid this scenario:
- Notify your health insurance exchange if you’re getting a subsidy and you become aware that your actual income will be different than what you estimated when you applied for the subsidy. For example, if you get a raise, tell your health insurance exchange. The exchange will modify your subsidy for the rest of the year to help you avoid having to pay any money back.
- Estimate your income accurately when you apply for a subsidy.
- Don’t choose the advanced payment option. Collect your subsidy money when you file your taxes after the end of the year instead. By then, you'll know exactly what your income was.
8. Where to Learn More
“Can I Get Help Paying for Health Insurance?” gives an overview of health insurance subsidies and will help you find out if you're eligible for a subsidy.
“How Does the Premium Health Insurance Subsidy Work?” will teach you how much subsidy money you'll receive from the premium tax credit, as well as the rules associated with it.
Learn more about the cost-sharing subsidy in “How the Cost-Sharing Health Insurance Subsidy Works” and “How the Subsidy to Reduce Your Out-Of-Pocket Maximum Works.”