The good news about this type of coverage: if your parent or spouse gets coverage through his or her job, it almost certainly counts
as minimum essential coverage.
But if you still have coverage under these plans, you've
got minimum essential coverage (and major medical coverage), and are not subject to the ACA penalty.
Stand - alone drug plans do not count as
minimum essential coverage under the ACA, so if you're uninsured and have a prescription insurance or discount plan, you'd still be on the hook for the ACA's individual mandate penalty, assuming you're not exempt.
One commenter requested restricting the eligibility of the special enrollment period for gaining access to new QHPs as a result of a permanent move to only consumers who were previously enrolled in
other minimum essential coverage, and only allowing the new dependent to enroll in or change his or her enrollment into a new QHP under the special enrollment period described in paragraph (d)(2).
Health insurance
with minimum essential coverage is mandatory for all US citizens, permanent residents, and green card holders who do not qualify for an exemption.
Plans that qualify as
minimum essential coverage include employer - sponsored plans, individual major medical plans (including new ACA - compliant plans, grandfathered plans, and grandmothered plans), TRICARE, Medicare, most Medicaid plans, and CHIP, among others.
Another commenter stated that State high risk pools must at least be required to provide minimum value to be recognized as
minimum essential coverage after 2015.
If you do not yet have healthcare, be sure to
purchase minimum essential coverage during the healthcare enrollment period to avoid becoming subject to the ObamaCare tax penalty fee.
Comment: Commenters were divided in their support for or opposition to the addition of a prior
minimum essential coverage requirement to the special enrollment period for a permanent move at § 155.420 (d)(7).
Note that in early 2016, HHS eliminated some little - used special enrollment periods that were no longer necessary (for example, the special enrollment period that had previously been available for people whose Pre-Existing Conditions Health Insurance Program (PCIP) had ended; coverage under those plans ended in 2014; but there's still a special enrollment period for anyone
whose minimum essential coverage ends involuntarily).
In order to be in compliance with the law you must maintain
minimum essential coverage throughout the year, get an exemption, or pay a fee for each month you go without it (although you are allowed less than three months in a row each year without coverage, due to a coverage gap exemption).
Because of these characteristics, short - term health insurance doesn't satisfy the Affordable Care Act's
minimum essential coverage mandate; you'll still have to deal with the tax penalty.
Part III, April 2 — Clarified final rules for reporting health insurance coverage by large employers and
reporting minimum essential coverage by insurers and self - funded employers
Seven Corners» short - term international travel medical products are not a substitute
for minimum essential coverage that you may need to have under PPACA.
Those who do not have health insurance
with minimum essential coverage must pay the ObamaCare tax penalty fee known as the «individual shared responsibility payment» unless they qualify for an exemption.
Every person who
provides minimum essential coverage to an individual during a calendar year shall, at such time as the Secretary may prescribe, make a return described in subsection (b).
Plans that don't count as
minimum essential coverage include things like short - term health insurance, accident supplements, critical illness plans (ie, a policy that covers specific diseases only), and limited benefit plans.
Comment: Commenters expressed concerns about current misuse or abuse of special enrollment periods, including consumers who inappropriately obtain a special enrollment period on the basis of a loss of
minimum essential coverage after being terminated from coverage due to a failure to pay premiums in violation of § 155.420 (e)(1).