Affordable Care Act: Husband on Medicare, wife uninsured

My husband has Medicare, but I have no insurance. I earn about $20,000 and he gets about the same from his pension.  What are my options?

Helen in Arizona

Dear Helen in Arizona,

You can go to the exchange if you do not have an employer plan offered to you.  Assuming that you do not have an employer plan, then your best option is to go to the insurance exchange.  Both of your incomes together put you at around 250% of Federal Poverty.   Therefore, you will qualify for government subsidies to purchase health insurance on the exchange.

Arizona is using the federal health insurance exchange, which has had problems handling traffic and processing applications. So you may need to wait a bit until you can apply.  The exchanges are taking applications by telephone at 1-800-318-2596.  They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Your husband does not need to do anything, since he is covered by Medicare.

Update: Corrected reference to tax filing.  Married people applying for subsidies are required to show household income, regardless of whether taxes are filed separately.

Linda Riddell

About Linda Riddell

A published author and health policy analyst with 25 years’ experience, Linda Riddell's goal is to alleviate the widespread ailment of not knowing what your health plan can do for you.