Oh-Bummer, Bummer Care

California has just released its Obamacare health insurance plans: four levels.  Silver is the second-cheapest, $321/month, plus $2000 deductible, plus $45 copay per doctor’s visit.

You can get a full year of health insurance other places for less than one month’s of California’s low-budget plan.  Local insurance in Panama runs about $100/month.  Uruguay reportedly has plans cheaper than that.  Mexico runs under $500 a year!  All-inclusive, no copays.

You can obtain international traveler’s insurance, which includes coverage in the US, for about $300/month.  And it’s better than California’s cheapskate coverage.

So now a reader reports to an expat newsletter that she received a letter from her state’s senator, Sen. Nelson, stating that all US taxpayers, including non-residents and expats, are required to obtain health insurance or pay the tax for being uninsured.  Despite the fact that US insurance policies are worthless in foreign countries!

Errant nonsense!  US Congress has totally run off the rails here.  If you are reasonably healthy, your total medical bills for a year can run less than a month's premium for the far superior insurance plans available in many countries.

What a bummer!  Worse, not even Senators and Representatives have read their own healthcare bill.  According to that, non-resident US citizens are supposedly exempt from US Obamacare requirements.

Be careful!  Study the law, and study the regulations.  Or find a Legal-Eagle expert to sort out this mess.  Alas (or thank goodness?!), I am not an attorney.  I do my homework, do the best I can finding sources, but it seems even the law as enacted might not be the final word.

 

May your road rise to meet you!

Ann

US Expats & PTs Exempt from Obamacare

Amid the discussions of "Obummercare," as so many commonly refer to this disastrous legislation, one fact rarely comes out.  Yes, some people are exempt from those requirements to buy and maintain pricy healthcare coverage: e.g. prisoners, illegal aliens, and members of Native American tribes. 

But take a good look at one more exemption: Americans who remain outside the US for a year!  US citizens who meet qualifications for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) are also exempt from the insurance provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act. 

What do you need to do to qualify for the health insurance exemption?  Do you have to actually claim FEIE on your US income tax return?  You only have to be qualified to take FEIE; you don't actually have to do it.  

If you are legally resident for a full tax year in another country, you are exempt from maintaining the US insurance. Likewise for Perpetual Travelers (or PTs): if you remain outside the US - physically present in another country or countries - for at least 330 days a year, you are exempt from this insurance requirement. 

Considering healthcare coverage in some countries costs less per year than a US policy costs per month, this is good news for expats, PTs, and long-haul travelers.  Considering healthcare costs in a number of countries is 20% or so of US costs, medical care abroad without health insurance (e.g. if insurance is not available) is cheaper than the copay under most US health insurance policies.

Healthcare and health insurance have all been rising dramatically since passage of the very-unaffordable "Affordable Healthcare Act."  Escape this tax and get better healthcare for less simply by living and/or traveling abroad.

Have fun long-haul traveling, and. . .

May your road rise to meet you!
Ann