Taxpayers who did not have coverage for all of 2018, or had a gap in coverage of four or more consecutive months will need to determine if they had access to affordable health insurance (through an employer, the government, or on their own) using worksheets and tables available for this purpose.
Schedule HC, Health Care Information, must be completed by all full-year and certain part-year residents age 18 and over to notify DOR whether or not they had health insurance for each month of 2018. The monthly penalties, which will be imposed through the individual’s personal income tax return, are set out in Technical Information Release (TIR) 18-2 and are based on half of the minimum monthly insurance premium for which an individual would have qualified through the Health Connector. Individuals who are deemed able to afford health insurance but fail to obtain it are subject to penalties for each month of noncompliance in the tax year (provided that there is no penalty in the case of a lapse in coverage of 63 consecutive days or less).
In 2018, individuals must be enrolled in health insurance policies that meet minimum creditable coverage standards defined in regulations adopted by the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority (Health Connector).
Massachusetts requires most adults 18 and over with access to affordable health insurance to obtain it.