I’m being charged for marketplace insurance I didn’t know I had
This all takes place in Maryland btw.
Backstory: For part of 2020 and all of 2021 I had marketplace insurance with government assistance as I had lost my job during 2022 and my freelance job at the time did not make much. I didn't have an expensive plan (I took one of the cheapest emergency plans available), but my wife wanted me to have something in case I got seriously hurt.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2022. I had just started a new sales job in a new industry that included full health coverage. While I was starting this new job my wife was dealing with some health problems that were quite disruptive for both of our lives (she was at the hospital for a few months).
At the end of 2021, knowing I had this job coming up, I tried to cancel my marketplace coverage. The issue was that each time I went to the site (https://www.marylandhealthconnection.gov) it wouldn't let me do anything other than log in. It would successfully take my login details, go to the home page, and if I tried to interact with anything it would direct me to a page saying the site was experiencing issues. However, each time I would go to the site it had a message on the home page saying that if I didn't submit certain documentation (because my freelance income was different each month I had to fill out an expected income form) then I would lose coverage.
Given how busy I was at the time (new job/industry, sick wife) coupled with the fact that I couldn't do anything but log into their site I figured I'd just let it expire (like it said it would at the end of the year). Well the wife and I got a big surprise last year when we found out in April that that coverage has been active since I started my new job January of 2022.
We were told that we had to pay back $2,291 for the year of 2022. This year we got another 1095-A that says we have to pay an additional $845. Last year we called the Maryland health exchange and they told us there was nothing they could do and we had to pay it, which we did because the deadline was very close.
This year my Dad is telling me to look a little more into because that doesn't sound right.
For the record, My marketplace insurance was "actually" canceled in April 2023, I was fully insured from February 2022 – July 2023
Long story short, does anyone have any insight into this situation? I plan on contacting a local tax attorney as well.
submitted by /u/Ttaylor2791
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