The question: if you had insurance in 2016, but my husband is missing January because he started in November of 2015, and wasn't eligible for ins until February.

[donandpegleg]

How do I get around that?

[KatherineC · Accepted solution]

According to the Affordable Care Act, in order for you to be exempt from a penalty, you have to have a gap which "covers less than three months".  So if you were covered for a period of more than 9 months, you will not owe a penalty.

Please go to the link below for confirmation:

http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-coverage-gap-exemption/

• When you are entering your healthcare coverage, you need to indicate that you had coverage for part of 2016.
• On the following page, you will be asked to indicate which months you were covered.

You will then be asked about November and December of 2015.  Since your husband wasn't covered for those months, you will have a small penalty for January.  (He had a gap of three months, not less than 3.  Unless he was covered for part of November, December or January)