ACA – Obamacare’s Effects on American Expats Living Abroad

yucalandia.com

Sept. 27, 2013 Update:
 
This article is for all the Americans traveling or living abroad who have, so far, avoided learning about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With the upcoming Oct. 1, 2013 – March 31, 2014 enrollment period, for ACA – Obamacare, there are bundles of questions that arise affecting US citizens who are outside the USA.
Are US citizens outside the US covered / protected by the ACA?

Are we exempt?




Is coverage only offered within the US (like Medicare), requiring citizens outside the US to travel for care?
Are expats forced to pay for a US insurance plan, even if they cannot receive care under the plan outside the US?

What fines (a.k.a. “taxes” in US Supreme Court lingo), must be paid for not enrolling in a US health plan?
The full answers will all be revealed in due time, since MOST of the significant parts of Obamacare do not take affect until 2014, and Congress may overturn these provisions before then.

After 2013, there are the penalties

(“taxes” assessed by the IRS)  for not enrolling in an US approved plan. Americans who are NOT residents of the USA, do NOT have to participate. More will be described below on how to qualify as a Non-Resident US citizen.

If you qualify as a Resident of the United States, then:

~ If you have no current medical insurance coverage, you can either enroll with existing insurance company, and pay your own premiums.
or

~ You can qualify for having minimum medical insurance by having Medicare (receiving SS retirement benefits), Medicaid, CHIP or other qualifying policies (like some VA coverages). (See Below**)
or

~ You can enroll in “State Insurance Exchanges” – insurance pools that will likely be created by each US state to cover people who either cannot afford or cannot get medical insurance coverage.

 


Note: There are exemptions if you are a member of an approved religious sect (rejecting medical care on conscientious grounds), member of an Indian tribe, a convict, or have “annual household income lower than the amount specified section 1412(b)(1)(B) of the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act is less than the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) “

Specifically, if you are not required to file a tax return with the IRS, then you have NO responsibilities under the ACA / Obamacare.   To find out if you are required to file a federal tax return, use the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA).

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Questions-and-Answers-on-the-Individual-Shared-Responsibility-Provision  Item 6.5.

State Medicaid programs are projected to increase under the current ACA law, but many many physicians refuse to take Medicaid patients because Medicaid does not pay enough to support the average $250,000 a year salary for most physicians. “State Exchanges” are expected to pick up much of the slack.

One catch to all of this: State Exchanges are just being formed and approved as of Oct. 1, 2013.

The ACA law offers to reimburse the States 100% of the costs of these exchanges for 2014 – 2016, and then the Federal Govt is supposed to pay the States 90% of the costs, making forming State exchanges tasty to many Governors.

ACA and NON Residents of the USA:  Excluded or Not Excluded?


Specifically the ACA website says:

“U.S. citizens living outside the U.S.

U.S. citizens living in a foreign country are not required to get health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. If you’re uninsured and living abroad, you don’t have to pay the fee that other uninsured U.S. citizens may have to pay.

Generally, health insurance coverage in the Marketplace covers health care provided by doctors, hospitals, and medical services within the United States. If you’re living abroad, it’s important to know this before you consider buying Marketplace insurance.

Questions? Call 1-800-318-2596, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (TTY: 1-855-889-4325) “

https://www.healthcare.gov/am-i-eligible-for-coverage-in-the-marketplace/

That leaves us with the issue of how the US Govt. determines if we officially “live outside the USA”.   In the simplest case, to qualify for the ACA Foreign exclusion:

~ We must be outside of the the USA for 330 days in a calendar year to qualify.

or

~ We must qualify under IRS requirements to be a “bona fide resident” of a foreign country. 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2555.pdf

Key parts of meeting the IRS requirements for qualifying as a “bona fide resident” of another country, are covered by IRS Form 2555,    Question 13:

“13 a. Have you submitted a statement to the authorities of the foreign country where you claim bona fide residence that you are not a resident of that country? See instructions. Yes or No

(13) b. Are you required to pay income tax to the country where you claim bona fide residence? See instructions. Yes or No

If you answered “Yes” to 13a and “No” to 13b, you do not qualify as a bona fide resident. Do not complete the rest of this part. ”

As we can see, we must be residents of another country to qualify – which points to Residente Temporal and Residente Permanentes only qualify for the EXEMPTION if they are out of the USA more than 330 days, while VISITORS on 6 month visas – who are not required to pay income taxes in Mexico – owe for ACA insurance coverage or pay the IRS penalty.    for those with TIP cars and Visitors/visitante visas.




If you are a US citizen and a Resident, without a medical coverage plan, then you will have to pay the following “Taxes” on your TY 2014 Federal income tax return (filed by April, 2015):

~2014 TY: Families: $285 per family or 1 percent of total household income, whichever is greater. Individual adults pay $95 each.

~ 2015 TY: Families: $975 per family or 2 percent of income, whichever is greater. Individual adults pay $325 each.

~ 2016 TY: Families––$2,085 or 2.5 percent of income, whichever is greater. Individual adults––$695.
These rules directly affect between 5-10 million US citizens living outside of the US, unless you can prove that you are not a US Resident.**

Here is the official ACA – Obamacare description of the rules governing Non-Residents:

CHAPTER 48—MAINTENANCE OF MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE

(a) Requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage
An applicable individual shall for each month beginning after 2013 ensure that the individual, and any dependent of the individual who is an applicable individual, is covered under minimum essential coverage for such month.
.  .  .
(f) Minimum essential coverage

For purposes of this section

(1) In general

The term “minimum essential coverage” means any of the following:

(Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP programs, some VA medical coverages)**
. . .
(4) Individuals residing outside United States or residents of territories.
Any applicable individual shall be treated as having minimum essential coverage for any month—

~ (A) if such month occurs during any period described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 911(d)(1) which is applicable to the individual, or

~ (B) if such individual is a bona fide resident of any possession of the United States (as determined under section 937(a)) for such month. (then they must get medical coverage.)

U.S.C. Title 26 – INTERNAL REVENUE CODE



**US Federal Rules Governing Who Qualifies as a Non-Resident:

The current government regulation for determining who qualifies as a Non-Resident US Citizen is Section 911 of the IRS code.     Until further notice, the US Govt. uses the current standard IRS definitions for “tax home”, “bona fide residence”, “physical presence”, etc to determine if a taxpayer qualifies for the foreign income exclusion and hence being exempt from ACA – Obamacare’s provisions. In typical government fashion, one step involves proving a negative: You have to prove that you are not a “bona fide resident” of the USA or any of it’s possessions.

IRS Section 911 Rules:

” (d) Definitions and special rules
For purposes of this section—

(1) Qualified individual

The term “qualified individual” means an individual whose tax home is in a foreign country and who is—

(A) a citizen of the United States and establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary that he has been a bona fide resident of a foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period which includes an entire taxable year, or

(B) a citizen or resident of the United States and who, during any period of 12 consecutive months, is present in a foreign country or countries during at least 330 full days in such period. “

From: 26 USC § 911 – Citizens or residents of the United States living abroad | LII / Legal Information Institute

Based on Section 911,   qualifying Non-Residents must prove that they are are not a   “bona fide resident” of the USA  nor do they have a   “tax home”  inside the United States.     Typical retirees currently living full-time in Mexico can use their Mexican address for all IRS filings to meet some of the qualifications as a

Non-Resident.
The “Tax home” and “Physical presence” burdens of proof are more complicated.     See:

~ Foreign Earned Income Exclusion – Bona Fide Residence Test,

~ Foreign Earned Income Exclusion – Tax Home in Foreign Country, and

~ Foreign Earned Income Exclusion – Physical Presence Test
in the official IRS publications for details.   e.g. Go to:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=96817,00.html
~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

**The term “minimum essential coverage” means:

“~ (1) In general
The term “minimum essential coverage” means any of the
following:

~ (A) Government sponsored programs
Coverage under -

~ (i) the Medicare program under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act,

~ (ii) the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act,

~ (iii) the CHIP program under title XXI of the Social Security Act,

~ (iv) medical coverage under chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, including coverage under the TRICARE program;

~ (v) a health care program under chapter 17 or 18 of title 38, United States Code, as determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary,

~ (vi) a health plan under section 2504(e) of title 22, United States Code (relating to Peace Corps volunteers); or

~ (vii) the Nonappropriated Fund Health Benefits Program of the Department of Defense, established under section 349 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337; 10 U.S.C. 1587 note).

~ (B) Employer-sponsored plan
Coverage under an eligible employer-sponsored plan.

~ (C) Plans in the individual market
Coverage under a health plan offered in the individual market within a State.

~ (D) Grandfathered health plan
Coverage under a grandfathered health plan.

~ (E) Other coverage
Such other health benefits coverage, such as a State health benefits risk pool, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary, recognizes for purposes of this subsection.

~ (2) Eligible employer-sponsored plan

The term “eligible employer-sponsored plan” means, with respect to any employee, a group health plan or group health insurance coverage offered by an employer to the employee which is

~ (A) a governmental plan (within the meaning of section 2791(d)(8) of the Public Health Service Act), or

~ (B) any other plan or coverage offered in the small or large group market within a State.

Such term shall include a grandfathered health plan described in paragraph (1)(D) offered in a group market.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Disclaimer: This information is not meant as legal advice. It is for educational and informational purposes only. Government policies vary between States and offices, and Mexican Government officials have broad discretion in how they individually enforce policies, so, your personal experiences may vary. See a professional for advice on important issues.