ACA UPDATE for those residing in the USA – 1/2015

 

1. If you were residing in the U.S.

   • The penalties started last year, 2014.
   • Here is a blog article on our Arizona site about the 2015 penalties, https://www.gninsurance.com/blog/news-and-helpful-links/shared-responsibility-update-irs-2015/.
   • Keep in mind that a resident in the U.S. has a grace period of 90 days out of the 12 months of not having an ACA policy and will not get penalized (However if making repeated trips outside the USA, only the first trip will count towards this Short Coverage Gap Exemption). Thus, in order not to be penalized (by Individual Shared Responsibility Payment) one must prove they had coverage for at least 9 months of the 12 month calendar year

2. An additional comment for those expats wanting to get an ACA plan in the U.S.

   • This is an important comment that may or may not be applicable to you. Many of our clients overseas have asked if they can get on an ACA policy when they come back. The answer is yes and no. It all depends on two things!
     • SEP (special enrollment period)
     • Open enrollment
   • SEP is outside the open enrollment period. Here is a blog article about this at https://www.gninsurance.com/blog/news-and-helpful-links/sep-mean/. If you do not fit in any of these you have to wait till open enrollment period.
   • Open enrollment starts November 1, 2015 to January 31, 2016. For 2014 and 2015 the start date open enrollment has been a little longer. What this means is that on October through December of next year, 2015, you have open enrollment to start your policy on 1-1-2016. Once 1-1-2016 comes around open enrollment is closed. This means you cannot get on an ACA policy unless you fit into one of the six main SEP options.
   • Why is this important for expats? Because, if you are visiting the U.S. for under three months and are not here during open enrollment time you will have to change your expat status to residency status (unless you fit another SEP reason) and get on an ACA policy or be subject to a fee from the IRS. Thus, your tax year status will change from expat to resident of the U.S. and you will be unable to receive expat tax status for that calendar year. This is why our career international insurance plans, here at https://www.gninsurance.com/health/all-career-plans/, help cover you while you are in the U.S. as long as you do not intend to stay over three months. If you are not permanently moving to a new state/resident (one of the SEP options) you will not be able to get an ACA plan. This is very important if you are coming back to the U.S. and needing medical attention right away.
   • One of the good things about the ACA plans is that you will be automatically accepted and all, if any, pre-existing medical conditions are covered from the start of your policy. However, keep in mind that you will not be active on an ACA policy the second you arrive back in the U.S. It takes up to 2-4 weeks to go through the application process. What happens if you need medical attention right away? You will be responsible for all costs unless you have an international medical insurance career plan (if not a pre-existing condition once you started the international insurance policy) until your U.S. ACA policy is active.
   • You may view what an ACA policy investment is by going here to https://www.gninsurance.com/individual-and-family-health-coverage/ and clicking on the rates for Blue Cross of Arizona. Please keep in mind that ACA premiums are different per state. This will provide you a good average of what an ACA policy is per month.