Question About Obamacare

I am getting sick of my day job and I'd like to just go ahead and apply to Prime and others but its close to the end of the year and leaving my current job will mean leaving my health insurance. I imagine that I don't start receiving benefits until after 90 days right? Plus a month if training and whatever other time things will take, so that is at least 120 days without insurance.

I'm a young man, I can live without insurance for a few months, what I am worried about is incurring a fine because of it. Is this going to be the case? Should I wait until the end of the year so I can have a year of continuous coverage? This crap is confusing. Thanks in advance for any help.

I am in the same boat as you im sick of my day job as well and on top of that i missed our wellness discount so either way i go im screwed i just applied for prime hoping i get a call soon.

You should be eligible for COBRA coverage, which is insanely expensive and hardly anyone can afford.

Obamacare, as you are calling it, means different things for different people. There is actually no such thing as any insurance called Obamacare. People seem very confused regarding the Healthcare Reform Act, it simply requires that all Americans have coverage which includes certain basic things and that insurers cannot deny someone coverage for preexisting conditions... doesn't mean they can't rate (or charge higher premiums) to someone who has medical problems. As part of this reform, many states expanded their medicaid coverage. States were to develop an online insurance exchange where people could shop for and purchase coverage in an open market.

In Kentucky, the state did successfully create that market and it's been successful since even before the federal site had all the glitches worked out. In Kentucky, I would have to make more than $98k/year, with a family of 3, to NOT qualify for assistance paying insurance premiums. Yes, my current employer offers coverage, but the plans are very high deductible, or very high premiums. Of course they (my employer) tells us (employees) we can't use the marketplace. . Only because they don't want to have to contribute the $ the state will charge them to help pay for our insurance coverage. Most employees here where I work, who are single parents, actually qualify for state medicaid and have no idea, yet struggle with payroll deductions and copayments because they don't realize how the market works. I do not have insurance through my employer and obtain it through our state exchange. I am sure i will continue to use our exchange when I take my first driving job. That reminds me. Open enrollment in our state exchange begins next week. Coverage selected will be effective Jan. 1, 2016. When my pay changes, I'm required to sign into the state marketplace and update my financial information. They will then redetermine what sort of premium assistance I qualify for, if any, and will suggest insurance plans that I can choose from and the cost of that plan. Much less expensive than my employer sponsored plans.

I just did a search and found https://getcovered.illinois.gov which is the marketplace for Illinois. I highly recommend you take advantage of the market and check it out. You just might find out you qualify for free healthcare or at the very least, assistance in paying the premiums. It's worth a look at least,

The IRS fines are minimal, and they do offer hardship exemptions for not having coverage. I highly recommend having health coverage no matter your personal circumstances.

Short answer: You had insurance most of 2015, changed jobs, and your employer offers it, but you do not yet qualify for company coverage. That makes you exempt from any fine.

Really no big deal. Read up on the IRS site.

Thank you both, especially Sue for such a detailed response! Very much appreciated, I definitely feel less intimated by it and get on all that today after work. Thanks alot