HRA Notice Post Retirement

[augam]

Cobra ending on the 30th of this month November. Consequently I need to enroll in Open Market ACA for one month of 21' and then turn round and and re enroll for 2022'.

Never been through Open Enrollment through Healthcare.Gov they are asking specific questions regarding my HRA Account thru my former employer.

MC automatically enrolled me into the plan on 6/1/2020 - news to me as I always was under the impression the HRA would not be accessible until I turned 65 (normal retirement) per MC. That being said premium tax credits are on the table now for 21' & 22'. I am findinding out the HRA will prevent me from taking advantage of the PTC.

Enter plan/action A - I submitted all of my expenses for insurance premiums since starting Cobra to the administrator of the HRA account and they approved and paid out the expenses - which by the exceeded the available balance of the HRA account. I did this by design - hoping it's not a mistake on my part so I could go back and amend my approved application 2021' @ Healthcare.Gov and update the part where it asks for HRA information.

My hope is since I have liquidated the account it will be considered closed and I can take advantage of PTC for 2021' and 2022'.

Here is the "meat" of the discussion. Going through the application process the site asks for specific info regarding the HRA. What I have learned since beginning this process 30 days ago I was supposed to receive an HRA Notice - according to the IRS site - from my employer upon retirement detailing the HRA in order to complete the application process accurately.

Unfortunately I did not receive this notice and if I did would have kept copies of it at the time of retirement. I think retiring in the middle of 2021 things may have gotten behind/slipped through the cracks or perhaps lost in the mail in any case I did not receive the notice.

Some of the screen shots I have from the HC.Gov site ask about start and end date regarding the HRA. First time through naturally I answered I had an HRA and the site moved along and didn't ask about a start and end date.

My question to anyone who may have been through this is specifically about the start and end date of the HRA the site asks about. Could I "simply" for the start date enter the day Cobra started and for the end date the day the account was liquidated upon claim submissions?

In the meantime I have submitted request with MC for the actual notice. I get the feeling they know nothing about it and will be escalating the issue to a supervisor within days since I need to wrap this chore up and get on with retirement

Apologies for the long read.

Thanks for any suggestions or help.

My bad - proofreading I retired 6/01/2020

 

[Aerides]

I don't know the specifics, but I'll ask some questions that might help others answer you:

First, you say you retired this year, so your cobra can't be ending on Nov30 - unless that's a typo? Cobra is available for at least 18 months, and you can't opt out of it unless open enrollment. But assuming a typo...

Your HRA sounds like a retirement health savings account, not actual retiree health coverage? If so, are you sure you answered the questions correctly? I thought they mainly ask about other coverage you might have - and a funding account is not that. I'm assuming at this point your application is not yet complete, so perhaps you can remove it if it's liquidated as you say.

Either way, I would not worry about it terribly for the December 21 single-month of enrollment right now. Priority is getting coverage, so I'd enroll planning to pay full freight for one month - and that will give you a little more time for paperwork if needed, and if you are due premium credits that will show up as a refund at tax time.

Then ensure you complete 2022 enrollment by 12/15 - again either way, if the paperwork is still a question, know that the first year you'd pay more up front and get your premium credits back at tax time.

 

[augam]

I don't know the specifics, but I'll ask some questions that might help others answer you:

First, you say you retired this year, so your cobra can't be ending on Nov30 - unless that's a typo? Cobra is available for at least 18 months, and you can't opt out of it unless open enrollment. But assuming a typo...

Your HRA sounds like a retirement health savings account, not actual retiree health coverage? If so, are you sure you answered the questions correctly? I thought they mainly ask about other coverage you might have - and a funding account is not that. I'm assuming at this point your application is not yet complete, so perhaps you can remove it if it's liquidated as you say.

Either way, I would not worry about it terribly for the December 21 single-month of enrollment right now. Priority is getting coverage, so I'd enroll planning to pay full freight for one month - and that will give you a little more time for paperwork if needed, and if you are due premium credits that will show up as a refund at tax time.

Then ensure you complete 2022 enrollment by 12/15 - again either way, if the paperwork is still a question, know that the first year you'd pay more up front and get your premium credits back at tax time.

Thank you for your quick response and pointing out the error regarding the start of my Cobra policy.

Here are some screen shots from the HC.Gov site as they presented themselves and guidelines from the IRS site depicting employers responsibility.

 

[augam]

thank you for your quick response and pointing out the error regarding the start of my cobra policy.

Here are some screen shots from the hc.gov site as they presented themselves and guidelines from the irs site depicting employers responsibility.

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