Submitted by Suspicious-Chance322 t3_zlv6xd in vermont
I just learned that I'm not eligible for a tax credit for Health Insurance because my income is barely over the threshold so it looking like my cost for the Blue Cross Gold Plan would be north of $1200 per month.
What are people (Vermonters) using for health care? Any suggestions for something more affordable?
Thanks!
VT nightmare. Post Obamacare nightmare. Whatever ya wanna call it it’s an nightmare. Mass has their shit together on this one though.
No they don't. Most doctors in mass don't take mass health, and waiting lists for grief therapy are over 2 years long. Just moved up from mass, and was on masshealth. It was a nightmare.
Absolutely. The middle class havent been helped at all. I have a lovely neighbor who had a stroke and couldn’t afford rehab and another friend who was dx with breast cancer while pregnant and lost her job abs her health insurance
You pretty much have to either find a job that will give you benefits or marry someone with a job that gives you benefits. This is why we need universal socialized healthcare, this system basically traps people at jobs just so they can get insurance.
I’m assuming this solution was as serious as the joining the National Guard one. Sometimes it can be even suckier when your job provides health benefits but the plans aren’t good. Then you’re in the same boat as [me and] the OP if you want to insure yourself otherwise. And I can speak from personal experience that marrying someone with health insurance does not work out well all the time, it can sometimes be even more expensive than opting to insure yourself through the marketplace regardless of if the premiums come out of their paycheck before taxes.
By simply calling this morning, the CS rep discovered additional savings. I’d recommend calling and suggesting that your deductions do not look accurate.
If you're barely over the threshold, you can solve that by reducing your taxable income. Do you have an IRA or a 401(K)?
Yes I do.
Without knowing exactly how much your income is over the threshold, your tax filing status, or how much you make, it's hard to say exactly what to do.
Here's an example though. Say you make $1K over the threshold. You contribute $1,001 to either your 401(K) or a traditional IRA and your income is now just under the threshold.
There are a ton of caveats to this like how much you make, your tax filing status, and what the contribution limits are. If you aren't a do it yourself numbers person, I would recommend talking to an accountant.
Ok I’m going to do just that. Thanks for the thoughtful response.
I feel this. I’m UNDER the income threshold but was still denied. When I asked why, the woman said the blackbox algorithm just said so, she didn’t know why I was denied. So I had to file an appeal. Now that I have an appeal on file, Vermont health connect cannot legally speak to me on anything to do with my case. The appeals phone line never answers. This is not going to be resolved in time for renewal, so I will end up sticking with my current plan which is the cheapest, which has gone up from $580 a month to $660 a month. Perhaps the appeal will work, and I will get tax subsidies for my February payment, onward. This was a huge eye-opener moving from Pennsylvania where plans were about half the cost. And to anyone who likes to talk about expenses going towards deductibles, that means absolutely nothing when the cheapest plan has a $9000 deductible, and you would be paying the difference if you were to go with a higher premium plan for a lower deductible.
I hope someone with power sees this comment and can do something about it. We all need change.
The low-premium/high-deductible plans only really make sense for people who don't need much care/meds on an annual basis. In this case, insurance is more for when something goes unexpectedly wrong. The amounts saved in premiums approach the deductible such that, if you don't have any major issues, you can save more than the deductible over time.
Of course, the income assistance is meant to bridge that gap & I'm sorry you got denied without explanation. There may be a way to recover funds incorrectly levied. Small consolation now but worth asking about.
Yes! There are a few creative options to attempt to lessen my “burden.” Also, just so everyone knows (and I hope this is actually accountable): if you were denied subsidies at first, but then you do your taxes and find out you actually qualified that year, you receive the amount of the sub that you should have received in your tax refund. However, the opposite is true, and I have had experience paying back subsidies that i later no longer qualified for (due to marriage). I hope there are proper checks and balances in place with the IRS just like my appeal case worker told me!! To anyone in my or OP’s position: talk to your accountant.
Also, if you're generally healthy & don't need much in the way of meds, consider going with a silver plan. You'd pay higher deductibles if you need serious care, but save a bundle on premiums if not. You'll still get a chance to change plans at the end of each year if you develop some ongoing need where gold makes sense.
Yeah I think that’s what I’ll need to do. I’m going with bronze. Thanks for the response!
Yeah, I actually go with bronze, too. If you consider the difference in premiums over the course of a year, it's a huge savings if you just get an occasional check-up.
It's not like you get any less access to treatment... just that you have to cover more of it before insurance fully kicks in (you still get covid/flu vaccines & obv. preventative stuff free). We're still just talking single-digit or $10k-ish out-of-pocket, so keep some savings (HSA maybe) handy.
The folks suggesting a traditional IRA in addition to your 401k have a good point -- if you can save a bit more for retirement & deduct it from taxes, you can save even more on premiums. Though I think it "scales" rather than "cliffs". Good luck!
Remember the qualifying income is AGI not Gross income. (Technically it's MAGI, but for most people it's the same as Federal AGI).
Other tricks you can use. Pay your January mortgage payment in December, take the additional few hundreds (or thousands) interest expense this year.
Also, pay your January property tax in December, same deal, tax deductible in 2022 (of course you can't use it again in 2023).
That’s tough. I hope they help you with the appeal and you get a fat tax credit.
I joined the National Guard and pay $52/mo I think.
Certainly not the ideal solution, but it works for me.
Bcbsvt. My work pays for 80 percent of mine though. So for my wife and I, about 320 a month. Benefits are something to consider when looking for employment. I wish healthcare was cheaper and I could just pocket the other 80 percent, but that's greed and politics.
Hahaha thanks obamacare. Aren’t we all glad we have to legally pay a insurance company our hard earned money every week for almost nothing in return
Actually I think the tax penalty was removed a couple years ago.
Obamacare was great for the first year or so. I paid $80 a month for awesome healthcare initially. After the first year, the conservative Supreme Court invalidated some of its most important elements—the ones that allowed it to function properly—and now we’re all fucked
Both parties are shills for big pharma. They spread money to both parties
Sure, but one of the parties is objectively worse
Really? If you take a long look at both it’s hard to see a difference from where I’m standing.
Republicans want to gut medicare and medicaid, and tried to repeal Obamacare without any kind of replacement (which would make things even worse than they are now). Democrats don’t support those ideas. Republican-led states have continually blocked medicaid expansion, while Democrat-led states have not. Seems pretty obvious if you “take a long look” at the actual facts
I guess you think we should get rid of guns, too, since they’re used to commit crimes? Or does that only apply to stuff that has the potential to help people?
FishieCracker102 t1_j08735v wrote
I call this the American Nightmare.