Many members enrolled in health insurance through the Covered California exchange accept premium assistance based on their income, age, zip code, and household size. If you are enrolled in health insurance through Covered CA, please make sure to do, at minimum, an annual review of your reported income on Covered CA. Especially with the flux of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have had major changes to their income over the last few years.
With that in mind, please review your modified adjusted gross income listed on your most recent 1040 tax return to best estimate your modified adjusted gross income for this year. On Covered CA, you are reporting your income estimate for this tax year and then filing your taxes the following year and making adjustments to the health insurance premium tax credits accepted. As an example, if you reported a modified adjusted gross income of $50,000 for the 2021 tax year and accepted a $200 per month subsidy yet when you filed your 2021 taxes this year and made an income of $60,000, you would have to pay back some if not all of the tax credits accepted, depending on your income, age, zip code, and household size.
It is important to update your reported income as needed. If you do not, you may be frustrated to find out you owe a hefty amount of tax credits if you underreported your income or, vice versa, you may be enthusiastic to receive a tax credit due to earning less than your reported income on Covered CA.
Furthermore, if you are receiving notices from Covered CA about your ROP or Reasonable Opportunity Period expiring, that means you may be at risk of having your premium assistance suspended unless you provide proof of income, proof of immigration, or other documentation as requested by Covered CA as listed in the Eligibility section of your Covered CA application. In the Eligibility section of your application, there may be a due date for providing proof of income, proof of immigration, proof of disenrollment in group health insurance, etc, that needs to be uploaded into your application. Please provide any requested proofs within the time frame requested.
If you have any questions about your Covered CA application, income reported, or if you are eligible to change your health insurance during this time, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please contact us at 310-909-6135 or at info@solidhealthinsurance.com for us to better assist you. At Solid Health Insurance Services, we strive to help our clients find the right health, dental, vision, life, and long-term care insurance which best fits their budget and medical needs.