Current:Home > reviewsA smart move on tax day: Sign up for health insurance using your state's tax forms -MarketLink
A smart move on tax day: Sign up for health insurance using your state's tax forms
NovaQuant View
Date:2025-04-11 11:08:17
Many of her clients don't believe it when Maryland-based tax preparer Diana Avellaneda tells them they might qualify for low-cost health coverage. Or they think she's trying to sell them something. But in reality, she's helping her customers take advantage of an underused feature of her state's tax forms: A way to get financial assistance for health insurance.
Avellaneda says she just wants people to avoid the financial risk of a medical emergency: "I have health insurance right now, and I feel very, very peaceful. So I want my community to know that."
The process is simple: By checking a box, taxpayers trigger what's called a qualifying event that enables them to sign up for insurance outside the traditional open enrollment period and access subsidies that can bring the cost of that insurance down, if their income is low enough. It also allows Maryland's comptroller to share a person's income information with the state's insurance exchange, created by the Affordable Care Act.
Then people receive a letter giving an estimate of the kind of financial assistance they qualify for, be that subsidies on an exchange-based plan, Medicaid or, for their child, CHIP. A health care navigator may also call taxpayers offering them enrollment assistance.
Avellaneda says most of her clients who apply end up qualifying for subsidized insurance – many are surprised because they had assumed financial assistance is only available to those with extremely low incomes. In fact, Avellaneda thought this as well until she did her own taxes a couple years ago.
"I was one of the persons that thought that I couldn't qualify because of my income," said Avellaneda, with a chuckle.
An outreach model that's spreading
A growing number of states – including Colorado, New Mexico and Massachusetts – are using tax forms to point people toward the lower-cost coverage available through state insurance marketplaces; by next year, it will be at least ten, including Illinois, Maine, California and New Jersey.
"We all file taxes, right? We all know we're filling out a bazillion forms. So what's one more?" said Antoinette Kraus, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, who advocated for Pennsylvania to create a program that's based on Maryland's, which it did last year.
Often, efforts to enroll people in health insurance are scattershot because the datasets of uninsured people are incomplete; for example outreach workers might be trying to reach out to people who have submitted unfinished Medicaid applications to try and sign them up for coverage. But everyone has to pay taxes, and that existing infrastructure helps states connect the dots and find people who are open to signing up for insurance but haven't yet.
"It's hard to imagine more targeted outreach than this. I think that's one reason it's become popular," said Rachel Schwab, who researches the impact of state and federal policy on private insurance quality and access at Georgetown University.
Health insurance changes
The rise of these initiatives, known as easy enrollment, is happening at a time of incredible churn for health insurance. The end of COVID-19 era policies are forcing people to reenroll in Medicaid or find new insurance if they make too much money. At the same time, marketplace subsidies that were created in response to the pandemic have been extended through the end of 2025, via the Inflation Reduction Act.
So having a simple way to connect people to health care coverage and make the most of these federal dollars is a good idea, says Coleman Drake, a health policy researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. But he cautions, these initiatives won't get everyone covered.
Data bears this out: Only about 10,000 Marylanders have gotten insurance this way since 2020, less than 3% of that state's uninsured population. The number in Pennsylvania is estimated to be small too. Still, it's a step in the right direction.
"Uninsurance in general, is extremely costly to society," said Drake. "Whatever we can do here to make signing up for health insurance easy, I think, is an advantage."
There is lower-cost insurance available for consumers, and, in some states, getting this coverage is now simpler than many realize.
This story comes from a partnership with WESA, NPR and KHN. The web version was edited by Carmel Wroth of NPR, and the broadcast version was edited by Will Stone of NPR and Taunya English of KHN.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Leaders and Activists at COP27 Say the Gender Gap in Climate Action is Being Bridged Too Slowly
- Got tipping rage? This barista reveals what it's like to be behind the tip screen
- A Timber Mill Below Mount Shasta Gave Rise to a Historic Black Community, and Likely Sparked the Wildfire That Destroyed It
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- How Shein became a fast-fashion behemoth
- The spectacular femininity of bimbos and 'Barbie'
- Amazon Prime Day 2023: Save 35% on Crest Professional Effects White Strips With 59,600+ 5-Star Reviews
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Who Were the Worst Climate Polluters in the US in 2021?
Ranking
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- Tom Holland Recalls Being Enslaved to Alcohol Before Sobriety Journey
- A beginner's guide to getting into gaming
- TikTokers Pierre Boo and Nicky Champa Break Up After 11 Months of Marriage
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- California Just Banned Gas-Powered Cars. Here’s Everything You Need to Know
- Our fireworks show
- What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing and listening
Recommendation
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
Post-Tucker Carlson, Fox News hopes Jesse Watters will bring back viewers
Erin Andrews and Husband Jarret Stoll Welcome First Baby Via Surrogate
Surprise, you just signed a contract! How hidden contracts took over the internet
Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
Amazon Prime Day 2023: Fashion Deals Under $50 From Levi's, New Balance, The Drop & More
How DOES your cellphone work? A new exhibition dials into the science
U.S. is barred from combating disinformation on social media. Here's what it means
Tags
Like
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Tiny Soot Particles from Fossil Fuel Combustion Kill Thousands Annually. Activists Now Want Biden to Impose Tougher Standards
- In 'Someone Who Isn't Me,' Geoff Rickly recounts the struggles of some other singer