Anyone who receives a subsidy for lower cost insurance must file a tax return for the year of the plan. If your plan is Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2021 then you must file a tax return for everyone on your application for that 2021 year in 2022. You will get a 1095A form to file with your tax return in January or February of the following year to file with your tax return. You MUST file the 1095A form with your return. If you end up making substantially less for some reason it’s still better to file regardless if the irs says you need to along with the 1095A form. Anyone who doesn’t file a tax return and receives a subsidy will more than likely have their plan cancelled the following year. We inform all our members to file a tax return matching the household size stated on the health insurance application so that the 1095A form will match the names and household size or your tax return. If you are in the immigration process and do not have a social # you can easily obtain a ITIN # that can be used to file a tax return all you need is a passport. Please contact us for more info.    Anyone who receives Medicare, Medicaid, Kidcare or VA benefits does not qualify for lower cost health insurance with a subsidy. You will need to cancel your other plan in order to get the ACA plan with a subsidy. The exception is if you have Share of cost or cost share medicaid, you are allowed to have that and still receive a subsidy. Please contact us before cancelling your current plan.   Subsidies are based on the following Total Household size ages of covered members zipcode Estimated income claimed for the current plan year   You also must file a tax return for the year of your plan so if you get a plan for the year 2021 then you will file that tax return in 2022 for the 2021 year and base estimated income for the year of your current health insurance plan. If Self Employed or paid as a 1099 independent contractor we use MAGI after business expense deductions and after any child support paid and before any child support received as taxable income.    Anyone who claims under the 400% FPL based on household size can receive a subsidy. We have a chart please contact us if you have any questions   Anyone with Legal presence in the US can obtain a subsidy with the following documents: You do not need to be a citizen or have a SS#. Let us know during the application which document you have so we can enter the info during the application process. you can also securely send us the document here (link to upload immigration documents on contact us page)    Permanent Resident Card, “Green Card” (I-551) Reentry Permit (I-327) Refugee Travel Document (I-571) Employment Authorization Document (I-766) Machine Readable Immigrant Visa (with temporary I-551 language) Temporary I-551 Stamp (on passport or I-94/I-94A) Arrival/Departure Record (I-94/I-94A) Arrival/Departure Record in foreign passport (I-94) Foreign Passport Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status (I-20) Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status (DS-2019) Notice of Action (I-797) Document indicating membership in a federally recognized Indian tribe or American Indian born in Canada Certification from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Document indicating withholding of removal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) eligibility letter (if under 18) Resident of American Samoa card Alien number (also called alien registration number or USCIS number) or I-94 number   We get many potential members that have been informed by their Immigration lawyers or advisers that receiving a subsidy will hurt or affect their immigration process as receiving a public charge. this is from the government website:   “public charge” status On February 24, 2020, new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulations apply to the definition and factors for “public charge” status. These regulations outline how USCIS will determine whether applications for admission to the United States or applications for adjustment to immigration status will be denied because the applicant is likely at any time to become a public charge. Use of public benefits could be considered a negative factor in a public charge inadmissibility determination. This means it could affect your chances of admission or adjustment of status. Enrollment in a Marketplace plan (with or without premium tax credits) is NOT a public benefit under the public charge final rule.  We are not lawyers and can not give legal advice. If you have more questions about the public charge law that was passed, please contact a professional.