Health Insurance penalty for non-residents

[vlad_skazka]

Me and my wife moved to California at the beginning of last year and applied for insurance through marketplace in September. California state wants us to pay a penalty for not having insurance for other 8 months. We are currently in a process of changing our immigration status, so at this point in time we are not legal residents of US, however we are lawfully permitted to be here and work. The reason why we did not get insurance earlier is our employer. We have been getting told since February that they were looking for options, but it lasted until summer when they finally told us they were not going to provide health insurance and they would reimburse a portion of our own insurance (that we can get on marketplace)  through a city program (based on hours you worked).

Do we still have to pay a penalty? I went through other topics and got confused with exemptions that might be approptiate for us. There are options "Resident of other country or US territory" and "Not a legal US resident". If a penalty waiver apllies to us, what option should we choose?

[DaveF1006]

Yes, there are penalty waivers that may be applied to you won't be accessed a penalty.  These include:

1. Income below the state tax filing threshold (you may still choose to file taxes and are required to if you received financial help).
2. A short coverage gap of three consecutive months or less.\
3. Health coverage is unaffordable, based on actual income reported on your state income tax return when filing taxes
4. Individual: Cost of the lowest-cost Bronze plan through Covered California or the lowest cost employer-sponsored employee-only plan is more than 8.17 percent for the tax year 2023, 7.97 percent for tax year 2024, and 7.28 percent for tax year 2025.
5. Household: Cost of the lowest-cost employer-sponsored family plan that covers all employee’s dependents is more than 8.17 percent for the tax year 2023, 7.97 percent for tax year 2024, and 7.28 percent for tax year 2024.
6. Certain non-citizens who are not lawfully present.
7. Citizens living abroad or residents of another state.
8. Members of a health care sharing ministry. Members of federally recognized tribes including Alaskan Natives, or other individuals eligible for services through an Indian health care provider or the Indian Health Service.
9. Incarceration (in jail, other than incarceration pending the disposition of charges).
10. Enrolled in limited or restricted-scope Medi-Cal or other similar coverage.

In your case, I don't know if any of these can be applied or not.

Health insurance Exemptions in Ca.