{"id":7382,"date":"2015-04-07T12:37:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T12:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/?p=7382"},"modified":"2025-04-10T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T19:48:59","slug":"hardship-exemptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/healthcare\/hardship-exemptions\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a hardship exemption?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: <\/em><\/strong>Previously, you could qualify for a Marketplace hardship exemption \u2013 which means you didn\u2019t have to pay a <\/em>healthcare penalty<\/em>. Here\u2019s a closer look at some exemptions that are a little more complicated.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"healthcareWhether or not you took advantage of buying health care through the federal Marketplace, you may have to deal with some parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when filing your taxes.<\/p>\n

Before 2019, some people could qualify for hardship exemptions on their taxes, which shielded a person from incurring a healthcare penalty.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2019, there is no longer a healthcare penalty. However, if you are age 30 or older and want to buy a catastrophic health plan, you will need to apply for a hardship exemption to qualify.<\/p>\n

Note: Exemption in this post refers to the healthcare coverage requirement. <\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> not the same as<\/span> a tax <\/span>exemption<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a Marketplace hardship exemption?<\/h2>\n

Hardship exemptions are tough life situations that have aided in preventing you from getting health insurance. For some of these hardships, you\u2019ll have to include proof of the situation in your application, such as a notice from a power company that your utilities were shut off. For others, like homelessness, you won\u2019t have to provide documentation.<\/p>\n

Here was the previous types of Marketplace hardship exemptions and corresponding paperwork you needed to provide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nHardship Exemption<\/strong><\/td>\nExample Documentation Needed<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/strong><\/td>\nYou\u00a0were homeless.<\/td>\nNone.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/strong><\/td>\nYou were evicted in the past six months or\u00a0were facing eviction or foreclosure.<\/td>\nEviction or foreclosure notice within the last three years.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/strong><\/td>\nYou\u00a0received a shut-off notice from a utility company.<\/td>\nShut-off notice from a utility company that states service has or will be shut-off.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/strong><\/td>\nYou recently\u00a0experienced domestic violence.<\/td>\nNone.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/strong><\/td>\nYou recently\u00a0experienced the death of a close family member.<\/td>\nDeath certificate, death notice from newspaper, funeral service program, funeral expenses, coroner\u2019s report, military notification of death, or other official notice of death.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/strong><\/td>\nYou\u00a0experienced a fire, flood, or other natural or human-caused disaster\u00a0that caused substantial damage to your property.<\/td>\nPolice or fire report, insurance claim, or other document from government agency, private entity, or news source about the event.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/strong><\/td>\nYou\u00a0filed for bankruptcy\u00a0in the last three years.<\/td>\nOfficial bankruptcy filing documents from a date within the last three years.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/strong><\/td>\nYou had\u00a0medical expenses you couldn\u2019t pay in the last 24 months\u00a0that resulted in substantial debt.<\/td>\nMedical bills from a date within the last 24 months.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/strong><\/td>\nYou experienced\u00a0unexpected increases in necessary expenses due to caring for an ill, disabled, or aging family member.<\/td>\nReceipts for bills or services related to care, like medical bills, home care services, or transportation receipts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/strong><\/td>\nYou expect to\u00a0claim a child as a tax dependent who\u2019s been denied coverage in Medicaid and CHIP, and another person is required by court order to give medical support to the child. In this case, you don\u2019t have the pay the penalty for the child.<\/td>\nCourt order that covers the time period for which you want the exemption AND copies of eligibility notices for Medicaid and CHIP which show that the child has been denied coverage.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/strong><\/td>\nAs a\u00a0result of an eligibility appeals decision, you\u2019re eligible for enrollment in a qualified health plan (QHP) through the Marketplace, lower costs on your monthly premiums, or cost-sharing reductions for a time period when you weren\u2019t enrolled in a QHP through the Marketplace.<\/td>\nNotice of appeals decision.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/strong><\/td>\nYou were\u00a0determined ineligible for Medicaid because your state didn\u2019t expand eligibility for Medicaid\u00a0under the Affordable Care Act.<\/td>\nNotice of denial of eligibility for Medicaid. The notice must be from a date during the time period for which you\u2019re requesting the exemption.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/strong><\/td>\nFor tax years before 2017: your individual insurance plan was cancelled\u00a0because it didn\u2019t meet Affordable Care Act requirements and you believe other Marketplace plans are unaffordable.<\/td>\nNotice of cancellation from the insurance company.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/strong><\/td>\nYou experienced a hardship that kept you from getting health insurance that\u2019s NOT listed in categories #1-13;<\/td>\nDocuments substantiating the hardship if available.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Hardship exemptions didn\u2019t prevent you from being subject to the penalty for the entire year. Instead, the exemptions will only cover you for the period immediately surrounding the underlying event.<\/p>\n

When you apply for a Marketplace hardship exemption, here\u2019s what will happen:<\/h2>\n

In the past, if you qualified for a hardship exemption, you would have been issued a unique Exemption Certificate Number (ECN). Each member of your household would have received a unique ECN. For tax year 2018 and going forward, you may have been able to claim a hardship exemption directly on your tax return without applying for an ECN.<\/p>\n

Healthcare hardship exemption form<\/h2>\n

Previously, you would have completed IRS Form 8965: Health Coverage Exemptions<\/em>, which was filed with your tax return.<\/p>\n

Do you still need to worry about health care coverage exemptions?<\/h2>\n

You don\u2019t need to worry about applying for any healthcare coverage hardship exemptions unless you are age 30 or older and want to apply for a catastrophic policy. For now, no healthcare penalties exist.<\/p>\n

What if I still need tax help?<\/h2>\n

Tax Form 1095 is still required to be issued by your health plan or employer, so it\u2019s important to stay up to speed on your requirements. With many ways to file your taxes<\/a>, H&R Block can help!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: Previously, you could qualify for a Marketplace hardship exemption \u2013 which means you didn\u2019t have to pay a healthcare penalty. Here\u2019s a closer look at some exemptions that are a little more complicated.\u00a0 Whether or not you took advantage of buying health care through the federal Marketplace, you may have to deal with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":26227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthcare","category-filing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"Marketplace Hardship Exemptions | H&R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Afraid of owing a penalty for not having health insurance? See if you qualify for the hardship exemption with the experts at H&R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/healthcare\/hardship-exemptions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a hardship exemption?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Afraid of owing a penalty for not having health insurance? 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