I've been without healthcare for nearly two years. I won't qualify for Medicare until age 66, another year and a half. I looked at the healthcare site today. I do qualify for subsidized, however, I have absolutely no idea what my 2014 income will be. I'm on SS, but started a part-time job the end of Oct. I'm not so concerned about taking a hit on SS if my additional income goes over the allowed amount.
The kicker with the health insurance, is if you underestimate your 2014 income, you could be responsible to repay the subsidy that's over and above what it should have been, which could amount to thousands. My weekly pay can vary from 0 to $6-700, and I'm fine with that as far as managing my finances. (I've been poor so long, anything extra every week is a bonus! And, I like having 'down' time - no apologies for my laziness, I worked my butt off most of my life.)
Anyway, say I pay $35/mo. For a semi-useless policy ($2700 ded., $6700 max, co-pay 50% after ded. is met.) So thats $425 versus a $95-285 penalty for no ins. I would be OK with that, I just think it's too risky for me to take a wild guess at my income and either pay too much for something I'd be better off paying cash for (an occasional doctor's visit,) or pay something reasonable and find out later I made more than I thought I would. And, in case anyone is wondering, there is no one to ask for an income guesstimate. I work from home, rarely communicate with anyone from the company, and even if I did, everyone who does what I do has a widely-swinging weekly pay.
Frankly, if something catastrophic happened, unless I'm in a coma, it's put a band-aid on it and send me home, and even if it were the former, there's nothing for anyone to take.
Oh, and from what I can determine, if you over-estimate your income, you don't exactly get a refund.
I guess I'm taking my chances that I make it to 66 without incident.
The kicker with the health insurance, is if you underestimate your 2014 income, you could be responsible to repay the subsidy that's over and above what it should have been, which could amount to thousands. My weekly pay can vary from 0 to $6-700, and I'm fine with that as far as managing my finances. (I've been poor so long, anything extra every week is a bonus! And, I like having 'down' time - no apologies for my laziness, I worked my butt off most of my life.)
Anyway, say I pay $35/mo. For a semi-useless policy ($2700 ded., $6700 max, co-pay 50% after ded. is met.) So thats $425 versus a $95-285 penalty for no ins. I would be OK with that, I just think it's too risky for me to take a wild guess at my income and either pay too much for something I'd be better off paying cash for (an occasional doctor's visit,) or pay something reasonable and find out later I made more than I thought I would. And, in case anyone is wondering, there is no one to ask for an income guesstimate. I work from home, rarely communicate with anyone from the company, and even if I did, everyone who does what I do has a widely-swinging weekly pay.
Frankly, if something catastrophic happened, unless I'm in a coma, it's put a band-aid on it and send me home, and even if it were the former, there's nothing for anyone to take.
Oh, and from what I can determine, if you over-estimate your income, you don't exactly get a refund.
I guess I'm taking my chances that I make it to 66 without incident.
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