MA Health Care

[VtPC83]

Hey All,

I have a question for anyone who knows anything about the Massachusetts state laws. They have a law that states that everyone living/working in the state MUST have health insurance or pay a penalty at the end of the year for taxes.

Well, I have been living in MA since June of 2008 and have not had the income to be able to pay for the company sponsored health insurance (~$200 a month)... I am planning on filing a grievance through the state. I did my taxes with Turbotax (not sure if this accounts for this law properly but hope so) and it states that I could end up paying MA about $450 in taxes due to not having health insurance...

Was planning on saying (all of which is true) that I moved here in June with my GF and another roommate, 2 months later the roommate left and my GF quit her job due to personal reasons. She hasn't been able to find a full time job since then (due to economy) and I have been paying all of the rent and utilities. If I had been paying health insurance as well we wouldn't have been able to keep the apartment.

Do you think this would constitute an acceptable grievance? Mandatory Health insurance sucks btw...

Thanks

 

[VtPC83]

Bump, anyone out there with this info?

 

[preCRT]

http://www.mahealthconnector.org

If you make too little to afford the premiums, they will let you know. There is an affordability test on the website.

 

[Mo0o]

Dont they give you a tax credit if you can't afford your own health insurance? There's no way they flat out force everyone to get insurance without giving monetary aid to those who can't afford it.

 

[VtPC83]

Moo, well that's true but those people who can't afford it due to other reasons get screwed... I technically could have afforded health insurance if everyone in the house was working and making enough money to cover their portion of the rent, etc. Due to not being able to find a job because of the economy, my GF wasn't able to contribute and therefore I forewent (word?) insurance to make sure we kept the house, electricity on, etc...

Now I get hit with a $500 penalty... Doesn't seem fair to me. I already know, given my income, that I would not qualify for monetary aid... You need to be at or below the 300% poverty line (which comes out to about 30k here) in order to get aid, which I am not.

preCRT, where is the affordability test? I searched the whole, poorly designed, website for it!

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

Affordability Tool

 

[mugs]

Are you going to claim your girlfriend as a dependent? And file as head of household? That should get you back more than $500. Not sure if you supported her long enough to be eligible.

WTF @ the girlfriend quitting her job for "personal reasons" with no other job lined up. During a recession? Seriously?

You put yourself at risk of financial catastrophe for your girlfriend. One trip to the hospital and you would have been in a world of hurt. Generally not a good idea to do that for someone who is just your girlfriend.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: mugs
Are you going to claim your girlfriend as a dependent? And file as head of household? That should get you back more than $500. Not sure if you supported her long enough to be eligible.

WTF @ the girlfriend quitting her job for "personal reasons" with no other job lined up. During a recession? Seriously?

The "personal reason" being that she has a BF she can mooch off of :laugh:

 

[VtPC83]

Yea, shes my GF but I plan on making her more than that this year. She didn't quit her job during the recession, she quit it around the end of June which was just the beginning...

And Damnit, I didn't think to claim her as a dependent... I already filed my Federal returns... Damnit Damnit Damnit....

Where were you 3 weeks ago Mugs???

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: VtPC83
Yea, shes my GF but I plan on making her more than that this year. She didn't quit her job during the recession, she quit it around the end of June which was just the beginning...

And Damnit, I didn't think to claim her as a dependent... I already filed my Federal returns... Damnit Damnit Damnit....

Where were you 3 weeks ago Mugs???

You can file an amended return. If you claim her as a dependent that affects her taxes too, so she would need to file an amended return. Do it that way just to see if it would turn out in your favor, and if so file the amended return. (1040-X I think)

I'm not an accountant, post in the stickied tax thread to make sure this is worth trying.

 

[Savij]

yup, toss her into the dependent column and you can probably get state help in getting health insurance.