hardship exemption

What is hardship exemption?

Beginning in 2019 the tax penalty, also known as the individual shared responsibility payment, no longer applies and as a result you no longer need an exemption to avoid the tax penalty if you opt out of enrolling in an ACA-qualifying major medical plan.[footnotes]Hardship Exemption – HealthCare.gov Glossary. (2018). HealthCare.gov. Retrieved 12 December 2018, from https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/hardship-exemption/[/footnotes]

The hardship exemption still applies to Catastrophic health plans if you are 30 years or older.[footnotes]2019 exemptions & catastrophic coverage. (2018). HealthCare.gov. Retrieved 12 December 2018, from https://www.healthcare.gov/health-coverage-exemptions/2019-exemptions-catastrophic-coverage/[/footnotes]

From 2014 to 2019, under the Affordable Care Act, most people had to pay a fee if they didn’t have health coverage that qualified as “minimum essential coverage.” One exception was based on showing that a “hardship” prevented them from becoming insured. Some hardship exemptions include: homelessness, received a shutoff notice from a utility company, experienced domestic violence, death of a family member, filed for bankruptcy, etc.