Can I qualify for a hardship exemption on taxes if I was unemployed and didn't qualify for the ACA

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

In 2018 I was unemployed for several months and didn’t have health coverage. I went to an ACA navigator who told me that I earned too much per month to quality for medicaid, but too little over the year to quality for an ACA subsidy. So my only choice was $400 for a plan with a 6k deductible since I was declined for either medicaid or an ACA subsidy. So I declined coverage.

I know next year the mandate is not applied, but it still applies to 2018. Does anyone know if I qualify for an exemption due to this or will I have to pay the penalty?

I’m thinking no I don’t qualify. I tried going onto the ACA website and answering questions, and it said I didn’t. I’m going to call the IRS sometime this week.

But this seems like a pretty shitty loophole to put into the ACA. Deprive someone who is unemployed of any assistance, then charge them a fine for not having insurance.

2

Neat, while doing my taxes it seemed to say that if insurance premiums are more than 8.05% of gross household income per month you don’t have to pay the fine. When I was unemployed they were about 25% of household income.