It's plain this year that the individual market for health insurance is unaffordable for many of the unsubsidized, particularly those in their late fifties or early sixties. The subsidy cliff has reached a fatal height for many.
This week Kaiser Health News reporter Rachel Bluth spotlighted a stark example: A 62 year-old woman in Chattanooga, Tennessee who earned $80,000 working for a consultancy deliberately cut her hours, reducing her income by a third to get herself and her husband below the subsidy line ($64,080 for a two-person household in 2017). The total household income was $92,000. The woman, Anne Cornwell, cut her income by $24,000 -- and her insurance bill by $27,000.
This drastic solution set me thinking about ways to keep on the right side of the subsidy cliff, i.e., 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. In 2018, that's a Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) of $48,240 for an individual, $64,960 for a couple, and $98,400 for a family of four.
Many but not all resources for reducing MAGI are available only to the self-employed. They include the following.
This week Kaiser Health News reporter Rachel Bluth spotlighted a stark example: A 62 year-old woman in Chattanooga, Tennessee who earned $80,000 working for a consultancy deliberately cut her hours, reducing her income by a third to get herself and her husband below the subsidy line ($64,080 for a two-person household in 2017). The total household income was $92,000. The woman, Anne Cornwell, cut her income by $24,000 -- and her insurance bill by $27,000.
This drastic solution set me thinking about ways to keep on the right side of the subsidy cliff, i.e., 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. In 2018, that's a Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) of $48,240 for an individual, $64,960 for a couple, and $98,400 for a family of four.
Many but not all resources for reducing MAGI are available only to the self-employed. They include the following.
