How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

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goaties
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How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by goaties »

I'm busily trying to prefigure 2014 taxes in order to know how much to convert from traditional IRA to Roth IRA. Well, of course, the new form for figuring the ACA tax credit is about as bad as any I've seen. It all revolves on a number which I cannot find a source for: the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for the area one lives in. Without that figure, it is impossible to get a good handle on what the taxes will look like (I think--I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

Any ideas? Pointers? Clarifications?

My current strategy is to just Rothify enough so that I hit the MAGI I told the Marketplace I would make for 2014. That should be safe? Maybe? I guess this isn't the time to try and maximize tax credits, although it is tempting.
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Phineas J. Whoopee
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by Phineas J. Whoopee »

It probably would have been easier to find out prior to 15 November.
goaties wrote:...
My current strategy is to just Rothify enough so that I hit the MAGI I told the Marketplace I would make for 2014. That should be safe? Maybe? I guess this isn't the time to try and maximize tax credits, although it is tempting.
Then I'd just do what you said.

If you want to further maximize the premium tax credit, which so long as you do it properly is not wrong, then you can figure how much is 138% (if you live in a state which has expanded Medicaid), or 100% (if you live in one which didn't), of the 2013 (yes, you read that right) federal poverty level in your state for your tax family size, and manipulate your modified adjusted gross income (for ACA purposes) to be one dollar more.

I'd suggest, however, before maximizing that one credit, you also consider the benefits of Roth conversions up to the top of a low-ish tax bracket. As little as it makes sense to let the tax tail wag the investing dog, I submit it makes still less sense to let the premium tax credit hair sticking out of the tip of the tail do the dog-wagging.

Since it appears you're already using a plan bought through the exchange, your health insurer is required to send you a form, I think it's the new 1095A, which will show the information you need in order to file, but of course it won't come until early next year.

PJW
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munemaker
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by munemaker »

To find the second lowest cost silver plan:

1) go to healthcare.gov.
2) Click the button that says "SEE PLANS & PRICES"
3) Enter your zip code and click "GET STARTED"
4) Read the disclaimer (or not) and click "CONTINUE"
5) Enter your expected household income for 2015 and click "CONTINUE"
6) Enter the requested info for all members of your family that you are seeking to insure (AGE, SMOKER?, PARENT?, PREGO?)
7) If you are entitled to a subsidy, view it and click click "CONTINUE TO PLANS"
8) Set the selector to sort "BY MONTHLY PREMIUM"
9) Scroll down to view the second lowest cost silver plan.

You have now found the second lowest cost SILVER Plan for your area.

I am glad to help, but could you really not figure this out yourself?
EyeDee
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Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan For Your Area

Post by EyeDee »

Goaties,
.
Phineas is right. It was easier before November 15. I believe it was approximately the number given in the line:
"Without financial help, your silver plan would cost: $x,xxx per month ($xx,xxx per year)"

by the Kaiser Calculator at http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

Not much help for this year, but in case you want to plan for next year, you might want to take note of the number now. Also, another good approximation can be found by listing the silver plans for your location using https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/ which is the link for "See Plans & Prices" at the government healthcare site: https://www.healthcare.gov/.

While I was typing, Numemaker posted a more detailed explanation - however note the number you get now is for 2015 which is probably not the correct number for your 2014 taxes.

Edit: As pointed out by Phineas below, the healthcare.gov choice will not work for states not using the federal site as their state exchange. However, the Kaiser Calculator should work for all states and states not using the federal site should have the information for their locations. Of course, this is still all for early prep for next year as they do not give 2014 numbers as of November 15.
goaties wrote:I'm busily trying to prefigure 2014 taxes in order to know how much to convert from traditional IRA to Roth IRA. Well, of course, the new form for figuring the ACA tax credit is about as bad as any I've seen. It all revolves on a number which I cannot find a source for: the Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for the area one lives in. Without that figure, it is impossible to get a good handle on what the taxes will look like (I think--I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

Any ideas? Pointers? Clarifications?
Phineas J. Whoopee wrote:It probably would have been easier to find out prior to 15 November.
Last edited by EyeDee on Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Randy | SCA - Build Savings early by living below one's means, minimize Costs including taxes, and maintain a diverse Allocation.
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Phineas J. Whoopee
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by Phineas J. Whoopee »

munemaker wrote:To find the second lowest cost silver plan:
...
1) go to healthcare.gov.
...
5) Enter your expected household income for 2015 and click "CONTINUE"
...
You have now found the second lowest cost SILVER Plan for your area.

I am glad to help, but could you really not figure this out yourself?
Unless I'm mistaken, OP was asking about the second lowest cost silver plan in h/er/is state, for h/er/is county, for 2014. That's why it would have been easier to find a week ago than it is now.

If I've misinterpreted OP's question I'll gladly accept correction.

PJW
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munemaker
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by munemaker »

Phineas J. Whoopee wrote:
munemaker wrote:To find the second lowest cost silver plan:
...
1) go to healthcare.gov.
...
5) Enter your expected household income for 2015 and click "CONTINUE"
...
You have now found the second lowest cost SILVER Plan for your area.

I am glad to help, but could you really not figure this out yourself?
Unless I'm mistaken, OP was asking about the second lowest cost silver plan in h/er/is state, for h/er/is county, for 2014. That's why it would have been easier to find a week ago than it is now.

If I've misinterpreted OP's question I'll gladly accept correction.

PJW
That's where the zip code comes in. Zip code indicates your area.
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Phineas J. Whoopee
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by Phineas J. Whoopee »

munemaker wrote:...
That's where the zip code comes in. Zip code indicates your area.
I beg your pardon?

healthcare.gov is relevant for some states, but not for others. Your instructions said to go there. OP didn't indicate h/er/is domicile.

The second-cheapest silver plan for 2014 is unlikely to be listed on the federal, or any state's, or the District of Columbia's, website today. Now, as of 15 November of this year, they're listing 2015 premia.

Have I misinterpreted you? Have you misinterpreted me? Has either of us misinterpreted OP's question?

PJW
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goaties
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by goaties »

munemaker wrote:To find the second lowest cost silver plan:

1) go to healthcare.gov.
......
You have now found the second lowest cost SILVER Plan for your area.

I am glad to help, but could you really not figure this out yourself?
Well, yes, last week, but not now! I can't find an old calculator for 2014 anywhere. I guess that's what I was really asking. All the calculators have been updated and I cannot remember what the number was for last year (although I do remember seeing it!). None of my paperwork from the insurance company shows it either. Ah, for the memory of a 20-year-old! Hmm, maybe a call to Blue Cross...

And yes, my next step will be to run the numbers with max Roth conversion to see which is best. But first things first.
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Flobes
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by Flobes »

For 2014 second-lowest Silver Plan, try calling the ACA office, or a local insurance agent who handles ACA, or your local Human Services Dept, or the ACA outreach people (they're called Coverage Guides in my state). It can't be that they've all already tossed old files!

For 2015, take the credit in advance. Then your paybacks are capped in the reconciliation process, and you can Rothify to the top of the payback cliff.
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goaties
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by goaties »

I think I have solved my own problem. It seems the formula for SLCSP is: your max subsidy + ("applicable figure" x MAGI). The formula works (within a few dollars) for predicting the cost of the SLCSP for 2015, which I found at healthcare.gov using the new 2015 subsidy amount. It also seems correct in giving the SLCSP amount for 2014, because when I use it, it zeros out the "excess advance payment" on Form 8962 in TaxAct. Of course, I won't really know for sure until 1095A arrives.

Reading IRS docs suggests that this makes sense and is indeed how they arrive at the max subsidy amount. Took me a while to figure out how to use it to reverse engineer the SLCSP.
RobG
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by RobG »

For the people stumbling across this in the archives, like me, you can get the SLCSP for 2014 by going to https://www.healthcare.gov/taxes/tools/ and scrolling about 2/3 down the page to the "The second lowest cost Silver plan (SLCSP) tool & your 2014 premium tax credit" section.
Stay thrifty my friends.
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dodecahedron
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by dodecahedron »

RobG wrote:For the people stumbling across this in the archives, like me, you can get the SLCSP for 2014 by going to https://www.healthcare.gov/taxes/tools/ and scrolling about 2/3 down the page to the "The second lowest cost Silver plan (SLCSP) tool & your 2014 premium tax credit" section.
That only works if you lived in a state covered by the federal exchange last year. If you live in one of the states that ran its own exchange, you need to go to your exchange. In New York, for example, that would be the NY State of Health website, rather than the healthcare.gov link above. The NY SLCSP for 2014 tables (and explanatory supporting documents) are available here:
http://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/TaxCredits

I believe each of the state exchanges has its own page with the required information.

Note that the National Taxpayer Advocate (Nina Olson) report that the IRS processing of these ACA subsidy returns has been massively held up by the fact that the IRS apparently still does not feel confident about the information that state exchanges have been providing to it. So do not hold your breath for your refund if you bought your ACA plan from a state that runs its own exchange.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/03/pf/taxe ... elays-irs/
furwut
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by furwut »

Yes - I obtained my SLCSP figure from my state run exchange. I don't know why the figure isn't automatically provided for you on the 1095-A. Having to hunt for it out on the web is likely to result in a lot of errors.
montanagirl
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by montanagirl »

This number should have been on the 1095A form that all marketplace enrollees were supposed to get.
quercus
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Re: How to find Second Lowest Cost Silver Plan for your area

Post by quercus »

I live in Colorado and spoke to the state exchange to get the 2015 SLCSP for projecting this year's taxes. The process was similar to what's been described above, though I was advised to browse plans anonymously so that I'd see the costs without any subsidy being applied.

But this bit of info was NEW to me. I was warned to recheck the SLCSP occasionally, because it can change mid-year! I was told that this is uncommon but definitely possible.
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