ACA and Tax Strategies

[jim584672]

This does not apply to us, but can Gov. look into assets for medicaid?

For traditional Medicaid, yes. For ACA expansion Medicaid, no.

 

[VanWinkle]

Riddle me this one.

DW and I have a GREAT ACA Plan for 2018. I am 64, DW is 59. For 2019 I will be eligible for Medicare January 1st, DW will be 60 then.

How will MAGI be calculated for DW for the ACA? Anyone Else in a Similar Situation?

1) Do we still file as Married filing Joint, if so, is DW MAGI 50% of our combined MAGI?
2) Will I have to do some fancy dancing with income?

Magi is still determined by the income of both of you filing jointly. How you file will not change anything if you are both part of the same household.

That is my understanding of the law as it is today. I will be in the same boat in 1 1/2 years, but my wife is only 8 months younger.

 

[GTFan]

Yeah whether one partner is on Medicare or not has nothing to do with ACA MAGI or subsidies.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Yeah whether one partner is on Medicare or not has nothing to do with ACA MAGI or subsidies.

If this is true, and I am not suggesting it is not. Why when you type say $30 and $15k into a ACA calculator, the subsidy numbers are different?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Riddle me this one.

DW and I have a GREAT ACA Plan for 2018. I am 64, DW is 59. For 2019 I will be eligible for Medicare January 1st, DW will be 60 then.

How will MAGI be calculated for DW for the ACA? Anyone Else in a Similar Situation?

1) Do we still file as Married filing Joint, if so, is DW MAGI 50% of our combined MAGI?
2) Will I have to do some fancy dancing with income?

I just ran that scenario through the Covered California site, put in $62K (under 400% FPL) for household income and one spouse on Medicare and one not and the non-Medicare spouse still was shown as entitled to receive subsidies.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I just ran that scenario through the Covered California site, put in $62K (under 400% FPL) for household income and one spouse on Medicare and one not and the non-Medicare spouse still was shown as entitled to receive subsidies.

Thanks, I did it on the HC.gov site and put my age at 65. It still offered Family plans not individual. It may just be the site Calc.

 

[VanWinkle]

Thanks, I did it on the HC.gov site and put my age at 65. It still offered Family plans not individual. It may just be the site Calc.

You will still get subsidies up to the "cliff" which is about 65000 for a married couple- even if one of them is on Medicare.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Thanks, I did it on the HC.gov site and put my age at 65. It still offered Family plans not individual. It may just be the site Calc.

Try this:

https://www.coveredca.com/

Even though you are not in California, hopefully the CA site has the basic logic correct on the one spouse on Medicare, one not scenario that would apply to your household as well.

 

[Scout]

This is the best way to reduce magi and still have enough money to live. You also need to watch what you invest in as some funds give off excessive income and that is not good for the ACA. I also have kept my income just above the poverty level for maximum subsidies and cost sharing. You need to build up a post tax account if you are still working. If you are retired, it is difficult to build up a post tax account without taking it out of a deferred account.

Would you mind detailing your strategy for achieving this. This is the issue I struggle with the most before pulling the trigger. What funds from your post tax account do you pull from and in what ratio? I guess this could be overly intrusive, but I'm really trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of this.
Thank you!