IRS: Now Is the Time for a Mid-Year Premium Tax Credit Checkup

If you have insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, you may be getting advance payments of the premium tax credit. These are paid directly to your insurance company to lower your monthly premium. Changes in your income or family size may affect your premium tax credit. If your circumstances have changed, the time is right for a mid-year checkup to see if you need to adjust the premium assistance you are receiving. You should report changes that have occurred since you signed up for your health insurance plan to your Marketplace as they occur.

Changes in circumstances that you should report to the Marketplace include, but are not limited to:

BRIDGE VERSUS OBAMACARE

I love to play Duplicate Bridge.

The game is totally logical. It requires that you be able to count 4 suits of 13 cards each AND 10 points in each suit and after a few plays you can figure out where the rest of the cards lie.

The same thing cannot be said for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Despite the fact that we were assured that premiums would go down, they are on the rise. Despite the fact that we were assured that if we liked our policy, we could keep our policy, the truth is that the old policies are going to be squeezed out.

Another Medicare Hidden Trap

This is a summary of a major article published in this month’s AARP Bulletin.

The article discusses a woman who fractured her spine, spent 5 days in the hospital, wearing an ID bracelet, eating hospital food and receiving nursing care but when she was transferred to a rehab facility she learned that Medicare was not going to cover her rehab because the hospital had never formally admitted her,  but had classified her as an outpatient under observation.

STRESS RELIEF

Recently, a client called to ask some questions about taxes.  While talking to her, I discovered she had many questions about finances, retirement and business, as well as taxes.

When we were done she told me that she does not know why she doesn’t call me more often, because I always relieve her financial-related Stress.

I kind of laughed but she went on that she feels very insecure about financial matters and when she talks to me, she understands what I am saying and then everything feels OK again.  She told me that I should market myself as a “stress reliever”.  I laughed again and told her that I did not think I wanted to touch that line.

Afterwards though, I started to think about it.  She was not the only client to say this, though the others framed it differently.  They used terms such as “confidence in me”, “sleep at night knowing I am there to watch over their finances”, and “help them to be more productive in their business and life”. Each one is indicative of Stress Relief.

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