A long time ago in a galaxy far away…..OK, so in reality about fifteen years ago in a town two hours away, I was an insurance agent. It was my first job out of school and I have to say, it was super interesting to me. Over a two year period before I decided to get a job in the field I went to college for and change careers, I learned quite a bit about insurance. I learned about the different types of policies and the benefits. I learned how insurance protects you and how it helps ensure that if the worst ever does happen, you’re not unprepared. I learned about how changes happen to your insurance when you have a baby, get married or even move.
Even though I decided to leave that career behind, the part of me that sat in certification classes and learned endless amounts of information about insurance just won’t let me turn my back on staying up to date with the ongoing insurance changes. Now, I know most of you have followed the Affordable Care Act closely. I’ll be the first to say that I have. And while we’re in no way going all political in discussing our thoughts, feelings and conclusions on this plan today, we are going to take a look at what the new regulations surrounding healthcare and taxes mean for you.
I guess first you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up now. That’s a very good question. One thing I learned being an insurance agent is that knowledge is power and preparation is key. And you might not know (or, hey, maybe you do in which case good job!) that right now is open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
What does that mean for you? It means that right now (from November 1st to January 31st) is the only time during the year that you can choose an insurance plan in the marketplace, purchase it and put it into effect for you and/or your family to avoid being penalized on your taxes. Now, the exception to that is having a baby (if you’re not preggo or considering getting preggo like in the next few weeks I don’t think this one applies to you) or getting married (check that finger for a little sparkle – if it’s not there, well…..). If neither of those situations apply to you, you better start looking at the marketplace soon so that you can choose the plan that best fits both your medial needs and your budget. And guess what? Even if you can answer yes to the ring on the finger or the bun in the oven question, you’re likely to want to be looking into the effect it will have on your insurance NOW! After all, there aren’t much bigger life changes than those and remember when I said preparation was key? Well, while marriage and babies are something you can never truly be prepared for, you’ll want as much advance info as possible!
So, I know all this info is overwhelming. And while my days of advising you on policy choices are long past, I can tell you that (woo hoo) it’s easier than ever to make the most informed decision regarding your family’s healthcare options with TurboTax’s easy-to-use online tools! You see, with TurboTax, it’s easier than ever to choose the status of your health insurance and make sure that you’re not paying penalties when you don’t need to. In fact, for nearly 80% of taxpayers, reporting your health insurance status again this year will be as easy as checking a box with TurboTax.
Because with TurboTax, you’ll be able to easily check which of the three categories you fall into. If you’re insured with a Marketplace plan, you’ll receive a 1095-A in the mail. From there it’s as simple as entering your information just like you enter your W2 into TurboTax. Then their system will help you take care of the rest. Better yet, simply choose the PDF upload option and it’s even easier to make sure all your information is correct!
But what if you have insurance through your work (or your spouse’s work) and haven’t purchased insurance in the Marketplace? Never fear, TurboTax is here! You may receive a 1095-B or 1095-C in the mail but you don’t even have to wait for it to file! Simply click the I’m Insured (not Obamacare) button in TurboTax, verify the info is correct on your form if you receive it and file it away because TurboTax has done all the work for you!
Most concerning of all for most people is what happens if they fall into the category of not having insurance. Don’t worry (it’s bad for your health after all). Instead simple use the TurboTax Penalty Calculator Tool to find out what you’ll be paying.
For me, the fact that TurboTax makes it so simple to know what I need to do when it comes to healthcare and my taxes really puts my mind at ease. It assures me that even with confusing new regulations, I’ve got someone on my side. Just as they have walked me through life changes as I got married, had my children and moved to a new home, they are also ensuring that my healthcare choices don’t slow me down either. Even without my prior life as an insurance agent or my degree in finance, I know that this kind of advice is invaluable! And that means that when it comes to healthcare and my taxes, I have one less thing to worry about this year.
I’m hoping this breakdown has made it easier for you to understand what to expect from the Affordable Care Act going into tax season but if you’re still confused, that’s OK! TurboTax offers a free suite of tools to help people understand how the ACA will affect their taxes and to ensure you’re prepared for whatever tax season brings. And because they know that you’re already dealing with enough end of year expenses, they don’t charge tax payers any extra fees for health care-related forms to comply with the ACA!
So as you go into the happiest time of the year, don’t let worry about how the Affordable Care Act will effect your taxes dim you joy. Instead celebrate the season knowing that TurboTax has you covered to ensure that the only thing you have to worry about during these holiday months is finding the perfect gift for Grandma!
To get all the latest information on healthcare and your taxes, be sure to visit the TurboTax suite of resources online today!
Thanks for such an insightful post. I didn’t know a lot of this!
Thanks for sharing this information. I’ve found the tax side of ACA to be VERY confusing.
Thankfully I am married to an accountant, so he does all this stuff for us 🙂
Thanks for sharing this information. We actually had to have our accountant explain all of this last year.
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Thank you for explaining that for me. I was wondering what was what. We use TurboTax every year so thanks for showing me.
This is great information for those trying to make sense of such a confusing situation. Healthcare is so imoprtant but taxes can be tricky.
Thanks for explaining taxes and health care so simply! I just love TurboTax – we use it every year (well my husband does) and it’s so easy to file without spending hours working out numbers!
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Thanks for explaining this to us. I am always confused about my health care options and what is available.
Thanks for the explanation. Taxes can be very confusing especially when it comes to the healthcare issue.
We have been in the process of changing out healthcare and it is so frustrating! Great explanation on a typically confusing topic!
Taxes and insurance always makes my brain spin! This is such well written informative post! Thank you!
We bought stuff to do our taxes this past year and I won’t lie, I was terrible at it. We went and had ours done. We live in Canada though and don’t pay for healthcare so I’m sure thats an advantage.
Lots of good info, thank you! I really did not understand affordable care or how it affected taxes.
This is really helpful. It would be awesome to get started with Turbo Tax. Easier is better in my book.
You got a lot of great information here. It is really frustrating for me when I update my healthcare and taxes. There are just a lot of technicalities.
Thanks for sharing this information. We use TurboTax every year.
Thank you for this post! I dread tax season so much.
Turbo Tax does offer a valued service. Living in Canada we don’t have to worry about signing up for health insurance within a certain period of time. Most of our healthcare services are covered by the government.
Thankfully we have great healthcare through my husband’s job. And we have an accountant who helps us at tax time, but I know a lot of people aren’t that fortunate, so this is great info!!
I live in Canada so I do not need to worry about signing up for health care and much of it is covered by the government. As for my taxes, I get that all done by an accountant as I have no clue how to do it.
Thanks for sharing! Glad we hired an accountant last year., so much easier
My husband usually does our taxes but I often wonder if we are missing out on anything. I will have to tell him about this program.
I always leave these things to my husband, but this is good to know. Thanks for posting this.
You are right. We just included our kids to our vision insurance this month as we changed the coverage of our insurances.
We are lucky to have decent health care in Canada. This is very informative!
What an informative post. Your points are right on because everyone needs to be knowledgeable about both healthcare and taxes and this is definitely the time of year to be thinking about it.
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Taxes are all my huz. Lol. I could never try and figure all that out by myself, but I do know that he uses TurboTax!
This is great information for those trying to make sense of such a confusing situation! I have an accountant because I could never rely on my understanding of it!
This is really great information. Thank you for sharing! I didn’t know a lot of this.
It’s so important to understand the fine print and keep updated with what’s happening. Healthcare is so important, you don’t want to mess it up especially when you have kids.
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I needed this a long time go, this is right on time. I can’t believe the year is coming to a close. Thanks for getting us ready.
Thanks for taking the time to explain this to us! I’m so clueless about this kind of stuff… Anything with numbers I usually leave to hubby to worry about lol
Insurance makes me so nervous; do I have too much, not enough? Thank you for laying this information out in an easy to understand way.
I am by far not the expertise here. Thankfully we have insurance coverage so this has never been an issue for us. We are even getting a bonus from hubby’s work for each individual in our home who is his dependent and already has ins. outside of his work. Pretty sweet.