The issue about the health care lapse is because you (or your spouse) answered "Family" or "Self" to the question of "What type of High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) did [name] have on December 1, 2018?"
In fact, the ONLY taxpayers who should answer this question with Family or Self are those taxpayers who
- had HDHP coverage on that date AND
- who contributed to their own HSA in 2018.
Everyone else should answer NONE.
Note that each spouse is able to have their own HSA. But the question applies only to that spouse who made contributions to his/her own HSA.
This frequently happens to married couples where one spouse does not have an HSA therefore was not asked to do their part of the HSA interview. If so, for the spouse without the HSA, just answer NONE.
This also frequently happens to taxpayers who don't even have HDHP coverage or an HSA and don't realize the question refers to HDHP coverage so it does not apply to them; they should also just answer NONE.
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