The MA State Schedule HC questions are incorrect in FTUSA software
FTUSA asks two questions which are leading to an incorrect entry on SCH HC line 4.
The first question asks if the health insurance is private, the second question asks if it's Health Connector. If you have health insurance thru MA Health Connector it's private insurance. You therefore end up with two boxes checked on line 4 (a and e) which is incorrect.
Stepping thru the official forms published by MADOR, the correct response for someone with MA Health Connector insurance is only line 4 (a) checked.
FTUSA needs to fix their S/W to align with MA DOR instructions.
Comments
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@FTUSA_Community_12 Thank you for pointing this out. I do see that there is a ? help that specifies ConnectorCare is not considered government insurance, but then the question about government insurance in the software specifies Health Connector in the description, which can be confusing when ConnectorCare is under the Health Connector umbrella. You are correct that ConnectorCare is not considered government-sponsored and 4e should not be checked on your Schedule HC.
When researching, I found that ConnectorCare and Health Connector are not the same insurance program, although they are related. Massachusetts Health Connector is the state's official health insurance marketplace, and ConnectorCare is a specific type of subsidized health insurance offered through the Health Connector.
I am going to send a message to our MA specialist to see if they can provide some clarification in the software with the government-sponsored health insurance question to more plainly specify that ConnectorCare doesn't fall under this category.
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@KeriC thank you for your reply
You are exactly correct, Connector Care is under the umbrella of Health Connector. Health Connector is the state's marketplace for many insurance products and Connector Care is only one of them which happens to be subsidized but is still considered private. It is helpful that the ? specifies Connector Care is not Government Insurance but I think the real problem is that the word "Health Connector" appears in one of the questions.
I Believe the correct solution is to eliminate the word "Health Connector" from the question below:
Government-Sponsored Health Insurance At any point during 2024, was this insurance Medicare, Veterans Administration Program, MassHealth, Health Connector, through a tribal organization or the Indian Health Service, Tri-Care or Other government health coverage?
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I have passed on feedback for this to our MA specialist. I can't guarantee that it will be changed for the 2024 edition of the software, but it seems like an easy enough fix that I hope they do change it for this year.
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Hello
@KeriC I had a plan from the health connector the year before and selected i had government sponsored health insurance because health connector was listed. After reading the post here i realized that’s wrong. Should i file an amendment for that ?
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Hi Mike12345,
Before you file any amendment, I recommend that you contact the MA state department of revenue with your question.
The Massachusetts Health Connector is a state-based marketplace (exchange) created by the government, often providing subsidized, private insurance, but it is not the same as direct government-sponsored programs like Medicare or Medicaid.
So, it is possible you are okay, but you may want to check with the state. The important thing is you were covered since MA has a health insurance mandate and you can be penalized by the state when you are not covered.0
