Affordable Care Act Exceptions
Affordable Care Act Exceptions
An entire series of books can be written about the A.C.A. (Affordable Care Act), with one of them being about the controversy caused by it alone. Many people cheered when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, other people panicked, and a small few had no opinion either which way. A big part of the panic was caused by not fully understanding what the A.C.A. was or how it actually worked. The Affordable Care Act was designed to help the American people gain access to affordable health care either on their own, through employment, or through government assistance. Not everyone can afford healthcare, and this lead many to worry that they will incur a fine if they can not afford it, unaware that there are exceptions that protect them from the fines associated with not having a healthcare plan.
These exceptions are for more than just those who can not afford a healthcare plan, they also cover other specific situations that we will talk about as well. If you own a company and have an employee that is worried about how the Affordable Health Care plan is going to affect them, the information listed below, along with the information you receive from your human resource department on the subject, can help place their mind at ease. We have spoken extensively before about how stress and distraction can negatively impact a work environment in other articles such as Resolving Conflict, where we talk about how stress can lead to fighting between co-workers and reduced productivity.
So how do you know if you qualify to be exempted from the Affordable Care Act? If you fall under one of the following situations, you can breathe a bit easier, though we would still recommend you look at healthcare options, which we will supply links at the end of the article to help you with.
A.C.A. Fine Exceptions
- If you are uninsured for less than three months out of the year, you will not face a fine for the time spent uninsured.
- You show evidence that you can not afford coverage, meaning that a “bronze” or basic policy exceeds 8% of your income.
- Your total income for the year was too low to be required to file taxes.
- You qualify for medicaid under the new income limits established by the Affordable Care Act but the state you live in has not expanded its medicaid eligibility yet.
- You are a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe. The federally recognized Indian tribes of Florida are listed below.
- Seminole Tribe of Florida
- Miccosukee
- You are a member of a health care sharing ministry.(ex. Christian Healthcare Ministries )
- You are a member of a recognized religion that objects to healthcare.
- You are not a legal citizen of the United States.
- You are incarcerated (serving a prison sentence).
This gives a wide safety net to people with low income employment, or other objections to the Affordable Care Act, and hopefully will relieve some of the tension caused by the passing of the bill. If you have more questions about the Affordable Care Act, contacting a Human Resource company such as Vision H.R. can help you understand what all the Affordable Care Act includes, how to implement it, and how to make sure your business structure is compliant with it.
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