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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 4:14 am Post subject: Obamacare and Expats |
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American expats of course.
The healthcare act in the US mandates that everyone buy health insurance and was upheld by the supreme court today.
Does that include American citizens living abroad? I can't seem to find a definitive answer on it. It appears that the IRS is the agency to handle exemptions and application of penalties for not having coverage so what do you do if you live in Mexico? |
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Tretyakovskii
Joined: 14 Aug 2009
Posts: 462
Location: Cancun, Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:45 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for thinking of that, Guy, I hadn't. Adds one more thing to my long to do list! |
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Tretyakovskii
Joined: 14 Aug 2009
Posts: 462
Location: Cancun, Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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Here is one opinion, issued by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.
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| ...the individual mandate provision exempts U.S. citizens living abroad. In addition, U.S. citizens living abroad will be ineligible to purchase coverage through any individual plan offered through an Exchange (see PPACA � 1312(f)(1)(A)(ii)). |
That's close enough to an authoritative answer as I need, at the moment.
Since it's the IRS' job to enforce the mandate, and it's IRS that will come knocking, Guy's question was a good one, and needed an answer.
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It's good to know where we stand in relation to this law, but do you notice how, once again, the laws are written in a way to penalize Americans who choose to live abroad? Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd written it in a way that we were exempt from the requirement, but had the option of participating voluntarily?
This fits the pattern represented by the way expats are dealt with under Medicare: there is no coverage for medical treatment received abroad. To take advantage of any benefits you may have coming under Medicare, you must travel to the U.S. for it.
A French citizen once told me that he had to pay 80 euros/year for extraterritorial benefits, a move that extended his full coverage, state sponsored medical insurance to where ever he chose to seek medical care. Wouldn't it be nice if we had that option, under Medicare? |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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Of course, if you are just in the country on a visit--and don't get sick or injured--no one will know if you have insurance or not. I always visited the US with no insurance in the past.
When I visited in 2008 for 3 and a half months, I didn't get insurance for myself--there was no affordable temporary option for that long. There are some companies that offer travel health insurance to the US, and most maxed out at 6 weeks, a few up to 90 days. After that it was buy 6 months of coverage not intended for a traveller. I was in a state that had a kids state health program for low income kids, so I did enroll them since my "income" more than qualified. But they never got sick or injured either.
I'm thinking about going for 3 to 6 months again next year. I've heard the new laws won't be fully in effect until 2014. I would really like to be able to pay into a low income plan for the time of that visit. I'm not as young as I used to be and off course don't want to leave my kids without coverage. |
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boomerexpat
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
Posts: 135
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| it is the same as taxes. If you are outside of the US at least 11 months of the year you don't have to deal with it. |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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| boomerexpat wrote: |
| it is the same as taxes. If you are outside of the US at least 11 months of the year you don't have to deal with it. |
That's not true at all with taxes. You're responsible for filing your tax returns even if you're outside of the US 365 days a year. |
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Tretyakovskii
Joined: 14 Aug 2009
Posts: 462
Location: Cancun, Mexico
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:51 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| it is the same as taxes. If you are outside of the US at least 11 months of the year you don't have to deal with it. |
A lot of people from the U.S. take comfort in this, or similar thoughts; but, as mejms pointed out, it's not the law.
Every citizen and resident of the U.S. is subject to the tax laws of the U.S., regardless of where they may live and work. How this impacts each one of them depends on their individual circumstances, including whether they have to file a return, and whether they have to pay taxes in the U.S. for a given tax year.
In my case for example, I have to file a return every year because my total income is above the threshold for filing and, if I have self-employment income in a given year, pay social security taxes in the U.S., because the exclusion for foreign earned income applies to income taxes, but not to social security taxes. |
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Isla Guapa
Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1520
Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Tretyakovskii wrote: |
In my case for example, I have to file a return every year because my total income is above the threshold for filing and, if I have self-employment income in a given year, pay social security taxes in the U.S., because the exclusion for foreign earned income applies to income taxes, but not to social security taxes. |
How the US government would find out if an expat had not reported self-employment income, especially if it weren't a sizeable amount, let's say, under $5000US for the entire year? |
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mejms
Joined: 04 Jan 2010
Posts: 390
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| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| How the US government would find out if an expat had not reported self-employment income, especially if it weren't a sizeable amount, let's say, under $5000US for the entire year? |
They most likely wouldn't. The only issue would be if you ever need your tax statements for any purpose.
Hacienda and IRS can be in contact, but not for small fish 
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| In my case for example, I have to file a ret | | | |
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