ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
Background: Early this year, my wife started a job as a minister in a new congregation. Because I had good health insurance at my work, we didn't negotiate non-cash health insurance as part of the compensation package.
April 2013: I get kicked to the curb by Megacorp. Realizing we have options with both open enrollment through the church group plan (if we negotiated health insurance for 2014) and the coming exchanges, I took out a temporary policy for the rest of 2013 ($320 per month compared to $960 with COBRA) to bridge me until January 2014. Plus my loss of a good salary puts our income *way* below the 400% threshold for 2014 (probably closer to 200%).
So far, so good. I get it. But it looks like things will get really messy come September and October. For one thing, in August and September the church will get information from the group administering employee benefits (she already has her new 403B set up there) and we are to sit with council to determine whether they will offer a health plan to us for 2014, and whether (and how) it would affect how 2014 compensation is given. (There will be four plans in the new church program, ranging from the usual Bronze to Platinum with "Gold" being the recommendation from churchwide and the benefits team. IOW, sure, we could ask for a Cadillac plan, if we want to see her cash salary drop by several grand a year, so it may not be in our best interest to ask for the moon and stars.)
Also -- even if they did want to offer us a plan for both of us... as I read more into it, as a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe it appears that I (but not DW) could get a plan through an Exchange and not be subject to any cost sharing (copays or deductibles). So given that it seems like I really want to go to an Exchange since the church plan would come with cost sharing for me and cost us more (in reduced cash compensation, most likely).
But then... if it makes sense for the church to cover her but not me... then we can we even *do* that? A married couple where one uses the Exchange and one doesn't... and then, like tax issues with MFJ and filing separately, does that change how the formulas for calculating poverty line go?
Yikes, this is making my head hurt! I guess I'm not looking for answers here, but just sharing how convoluted this can be based on your personal situation. And yet, by late October, our church council has to report to the benefits agency which plan they will be offering (if any). So I have to know what we are doing there before anything else and before even seeing how (if at all) we (or just I) sign up for an Exchange plan.
April 2013: I get kicked to the curb by Megacorp. Realizing we have options with both open enrollment through the church group plan (if we negotiated health insurance for 2014) and the coming exchanges, I took out a temporary policy for the rest of 2013 ($320 per month compared to $960 with COBRA) to bridge me until January 2014. Plus my loss of a good salary puts our income *way* below the 400% threshold for 2014 (probably closer to 200%).
So far, so good. I get it. But it looks like things will get really messy come September and October. For one thing, in August and September the church will get information from the group administering employee benefits (she already has her new 403B set up there) and we are to sit with council to determine whether they will offer a health plan to us for 2014, and whether (and how) it would affect how 2014 compensation is given. (There will be four plans in the new church program, ranging from the usual Bronze to Platinum with "Gold" being the recommendation from churchwide and the benefits team. IOW, sure, we could ask for a Cadillac plan, if we want to see her cash salary drop by several grand a year, so it may not be in our best interest to ask for the moon and stars.)
Also -- even if they did want to offer us a plan for both of us... as I read more into it, as a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe it appears that I (but not DW) could get a plan through an Exchange and not be subject to any cost sharing (copays or deductibles). So given that it seems like I really want to go to an Exchange since the church plan would come with cost sharing for me and cost us more (in reduced cash compensation, most likely).
But then... if it makes sense for the church to cover her but not me... then we can we even *do* that? A married couple where one uses the Exchange and one doesn't... and then, like tax issues with MFJ and filing separately, does that change how the formulas for calculating poverty line go?
Yikes, this is making my head hurt! I guess I'm not looking for answers here, but just sharing how convoluted this can be based on your personal situation. And yet, by late October, our church council has to report to the benefits agency which plan they will be offering (if any). So I have to know what we are doing there before anything else and before even seeing how (if at all) we (or just I) sign up for an Exchange plan.