Check out Special Enrollment -
Change in Income, Enhanced Silver (Cost Sharing Reductions)? * ARPA * COVID 19?
See if you are lucky and can find a special enrollment reason to re-enroll for coverage
ARPA Covid #Stimulus March 2021
Silver 94 – ZERO Premium!
If you received unemployment benefits anytime in 2021, we can help you get Silver 94 with ZERO premium. Be sure to report your unemployment to us or Covered California. Be Careful when answering Income Questions!!! MAGI Income can get quite confusing and one little error can put you in Medi Cal, loss of subsidies, loss of coverage, who knows???
Covered CA will redetermine your eligibility on June 21st, so be sure to update your income & unemployment benefits by then. If eligible, you will receive the same benefits as someone with 138.1% FPL – Enhanced Silver 94 Blue Shield * Covered CA Income Chart * Covered CA Broker Seminar 4.20.2021 * Section 9661 Part 7 Premium Tax Credit
VIDEO explanation of how the ARPA Silver 94 will work…
Increase Financial Help for Consumers Who Receive Unemployment Compensation During 2021
For households in which the primary tax filer or their spouse receives or is approved to receive unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) for one (1) or more week in 2021, the FPL for the purposes of eligibility determinations for APTC Advanced Premium Tax Credit – Subsidies and Cost-Sharing Reductions (CSR) Enhanced Silver would be locked at 138.1% FPL. View FPL Income Chart
Effectively, that means that—for any tax household in which the primary tax filer or their spouse received UIB for 1 week or more during 2021—any household income above 138.1% of FPL is disregarded for the purposes of financial help eligibility calculations. The FPL lock will apply to the APTC & CSR determination for all members of the tax household that are not otherwise determined eligible for Medi-Cal or CHIP programs and meet all other APTC program requirements. Covered CA FAQ for Brokers *
See Kaiser Foundation Calculation Results Their calculator asks if you received unemployment, while ours nor Covered CA does so yet.
Watch Covered CA ARPA Announcement VIDEO
Links & Resources
modernhealthcare.com/biden-backs-aca-expansion-next-relief-package-no-drug-pricing-reform
whitehouse.gov/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan
Unemployment Benefits under CARES Act –
#Stimulus Package
The bill makes unemployment pay 100 percent of what people would earn on the job and, in some circumstances, they can get more money for not returning to work when the economy is back up. Quirk in law would allow some employees to earn more $$$ for working less – read more in the LA Times.
Consider $600 a week is the pay before taxes for an employee who works 40 hours a week at $15 an hour, or 30 hours a week at $20 an hour. So not working will pay that person the $600 federal benefit on top of the regular benefit that CA provides. So it is $600 a week if you work, and $900 a week if you do not. For the minimum wage person who makes $400 a week, the effect is more extreme. The unemployment program will pay more than twice as much as working. Benefits do max out at different levels in different states but, in most, even an employee who makes $800 a week can make about $200 more on this unemployment than working. * The Hill *
Under the CARES Act, employees may delay going back to work, businesses could feel more comfortable laying off people, and workers may be incentivized to quit their jobs or volunteer to be laid off
Unemployment benefits also aren’t subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65% total) and in many states aren’t subject to state and local tax — meaning unemployment pay is arguably worth more than typical wages, * CNBC * National Employment Law Project * Los Angeles Times 4.9.2020 *
So, it looks like to get the Federal Benefits, you can just apply through the State of CA.
Under the new CARES Act responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, all states will be allowed to provide up to 13 additional weeks of federally funded extended benefits to people who exhaust their regular state benefits.
Under the Act, through the end of this year, people who exhaust both regular and extended benefits, and many others who have lost their jobs for reasons arising from the pandemic but who are not normally eligible for UI in their state, are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. People can receive a maximum of 39 weeks of benefits this year from all three sources combined. CBPP.org
Program ends July 31, 2020, LA Times on if it will be extended.
See FAQ about if you can get the extra $600 if you are on SDI
Get FREE #Instant Individual & Family California Quotes - Including Tax Subsidy Calculation - Guaranteed Issue - No Pre-X Claus
Full Instructions to use Individual Quote Engine
Takes all the complexity out of CFR §1.36B-3 *
#Report changes as they happen - within 30 days!
10 days for Medi Cal
Our webpage on ARPA & Unemployment Benefits - Silver 94
IRS Form 5152 - Report Changes
- Our VIDEO on how to report changes to Covered CA
- Lost your job? How to keep your Health Insurance. Shelter at Home VIDEO
- References & Links
- Here's instructions.
- Our opinion & short cut * 6 pages of questions - way too complicated, easy to mess it up, lose subsidies and/or go into Medi-Cal - Just give the bottom line in MAGI Household Income
- If you've appointed us - instructions - as your broker, no extra charge, we can do it for you.
- Voter Registration
- Task Guide Phone - Voter Registration
- Denial of benefits and possible criminal charges if you don't report changes in income!
- Visit our webpage on how to report changes
California #EDD Unemployment Benefits & Criteria
Benefits Corona Virus
The federal government will pay the full salaries of furloughed workers who make average wages for up to four months under an emerging stimulus deal The HIll – Click this link to Learn More
If you can’t work because of the quarantine, not that you are ill or that you are, check out the official EDD Webpage.
Reduced Work Hours
If your employer has reduced your hours or shut down operations due to COVID-19, you can file an Unemployment Insurance (UI) claim. UI provides partial wage replacement benefit payments to workers who lose their job or have their hours reduced, through no fault of their own. Workers who are temporarily unemployed due to COVID-19 and expected to return to work with their employer within a few weeks are not required to actively seek work each week. However, they must remain able and available and ready to work during their unemployment for each week of benefits claimed and meet all other eligibility criteria. Eligible individuals can receive benefits that range from $40-$450 per week.
The California Governor’s Executive Order waives the one-week unpaid waiting period, so you can collect UI benefits for the first week you are out of work. If you are eligible, the EDD processes and issues payments within a few weeks of receiving a claim. EDD Coronavirus *
LA Times on how to file
3.8 Million filed last week, 30 million total COVID 19
Technical Website PROBLEMS Issues – sounds like Health Care . Gov and Covered CA websites
Problems for 1099 & Gig workers if they have W – 2 employee income LA Times
CA will start sending $900 retroactive for the $300/week after the $600/week ended to those unemployed due to COVID 9.7.2020
EDD - CA Programs for Unemployed #DE2320
- See our webpage on benefits, how to file, no waiting period, extra $600 for unemployment - coronavirus
- SDI State Disability Benefits - How to apply
- Covered CA MAGI Income Unemployment ***** SDI
- Get Quote for Private Disability
- CA & Federal Paid Family Leave
California Paid Family #Leave
(EDD Website)
PFL Home | About | FAQ | Forms | SDI Online | Contact
EDD’s site that tells about family leave if you take time off to care for an ill family member. The page tells you just about everything you need to know. How to file a claim, check on the status and manage a claim, calculate your benefit.
PFL has a maximum of 6 weeks.
Here’s EDD’s FAQ Page
How much money can I receive through PFL?
Benefit amounts range from $50 to $1,216 per week and represent approximately 60 to 70 percent (depending on income) of wages earned 5 to 18 months prior to your claim start date. Visit the Calculating PFL Benefit Payment Amounts page or try the Weekly Benefit Amount Calculator tool to estimate your benefit amount.
Note: Beginning January 1, 2018, Assembly Bill 908 (Chapter 5, Statutes of 2016) increases the Disability Insurance and PFL wage replacement rate to approximately 60 to 70 percent (depending on income) and removes the 7-day waiting period for PFL. This applies to claims with a start date of January 1, 2018 or after.
Federal Family Leave Act (FMLA) Dept. of Labor Site
Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights
Visit DOL Pandemic Site
Employee Guide Federal Family Leave 20 pages DOL
latimes.com/new-california-workplace-laws-covid-19-safety-more
Los Angeles times article about paid family leave for a newborn infant being paid from social security
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-family-leave-20180129-story.html
ca parental leave increase 1 2018
http://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/About_PFL.htm
Technical Links
CA Paid Family Leave Act §3300-3306
SB 1661 2002
CHAPTER 28—FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE – Federal
- § 2601. Findings and purposes
- SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR LEAVE (§§ 2611—2619)
- SUBCHAPTER II—COMMISSION ON LEAVE (§§ 2631—2636)
- SUBCHAPTER III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS (§§ 2651—2654)
Check out Special Enrollment -
Change in Income, Enhanced Silver (Cost Sharing Reductions)? * ARPA * COVID 19?
See if you are lucky and can find a special enrollment reason to re-enroll for coverage
Resources
Employment Resources
- Labor and Workforce Development Agency – Resources for employers and workers including workers’ compensation and paid sick leave.
- Labor Commissioner’s Office FAQs – Employee leave options, compensation, and salary.
- Department of Fair Employment and Housing – Job protection and employment discrimination.
- Washington Post – Paid Sick Leave
- EDD pamphlet on unemployment and SDI benefits
Health Resources
- California Department of Public Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- World Health Organization
- FAQ from Website visitor on options to keep her health insurance, with no or less income.
See our webpage on how unemployment compensation & Disability gets counted for MAGI Income under Covered CA subsidies, get quotes. Appoint us as your agent.
More Information
Another article * 1 * 2 * Prisoner Fraud * Problems * What if $600 ends? * Freelancers *
Confusion between Net, Gross Income and MAGI Income. Nearly 1 million California’s will have to pay back unemployment benefits as they reported Net and not Gross Income.
Benefits were supposed to be based on their net income in 2019. But in all the confusion of an unprecedented program, many reported their gross income instead.
Covered CA subsidies are based on Adjusted Gross Income + Social Security. https://individuals.healthreformquotes.com/subsidies/magi/
Like President Trump said, Insurance is very complicated. VIDEO
unemployment benefits fraud in California could total $2 billion,
Is this the biggest heist in history, at least in California? Well, that’s what the Sacramento County district attorney said
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-12/california-unemployment-benefits-fiasco
People who have lost work have options.
As businesses close down and the economy rapidly contracts, millions of people are losing their jobs or seeing their hours get slashed. If you’ve lost your job or had your hours reduced, here are some of your options.
- File for unemployment. Here’s how.
- File for paid sick leave. The government expanded who is eligible for paid sick leave due to the pandemic. Here’s how to find out if you’re eligible, and how to apply.
- Seek industry-specific resources. If you lost your job in the entertainment industry or the restaurant industry, there are special resources being made available. Here are the resources for unemployed entertainment workers, and here are the resources for unemployed restaurant workers.
- Find work you can do online. Teaching English, writing and editing, tutoring, working as a virtual assistant — there are more opportunities than ever to find jobs that only require an internet connection. The site SideHusl.com evaluates and reviews money-making opportunities in the gig economy, including remote work.
- SkipTheDrive is a free curated job board for telecommuters.
- VIPKid, Qkids and Magic Ears all hire native English speakers to teach Chinese students conversation skills after dinner and on weekends — Beijing time.
- Wyzant, Varsity Tutors and Chelsea International Education all offer to connect tutors with students.
- If you teach art, dance, drama or music, you can tutor online through LessonFace and TakeLessons. The sites Contently, Skyword and Cracked offer paid writing gigs, and Reedsy has work for editors.
- You can find virtual assistant work through Boldly or Belay.
- Working Not Working finds positions for digital creatives in advertising, film, and web and game design.
- FreeUp is a marketplace where all sorts of professionals — content creators, accountants, marketing experts, web developers and administrators — can find work that pays $10 to $75 an hour.
- Work at Home Vintage Experts, or Wahve, connects seasoned executives in insurance, human resources and accounting with small businesses that need regular help. Los Angeles Times *
Steve Shorr
Website Video #Introduction
Our webpages on our qualifications, reviews, testimonials, etc.
Our Webpage on Insurance Coverage for
COVID 19
#Report changes as they happen - within 30 days!
10 days for Medi Cal
Our webpage on ARPA & Unemployment Benefits - Silver 94
IRS Form 5152 - Report Changes
- Our VIDEO on how to report changes to Covered CA
- Lost your job? How to keep your Health Insurance. Shelter at Home VIDEO
- References & Links
- Here's instructions.
- Our opinion & short cut * 6 pages of questions - way too complicated, easy to mess it up, lose subsidies and/or go into Medi-Cal - Just give the bottom line in MAGI Household Income
- If you've appointed us - instructions - as your broker, no extra charge, we can do it for you.
- Voter Registration
- Task Guide Phone - Voter Registration
- Denial of benefits and possible criminal charges if you don't report changes in income!
- Visit our webpage on how to report changes
SNAFU - Situation Normal - All Fouled Up
I learned the word SNAFU Situation Normal, All Fouled Up in the dorm, when I attended San Diego State in the early 70's and earned a degree in Insurance. In all that time, I've never been able to use the word in a sentence, until last 10.1.2013, when Covered CA.com, Health Care.Gov nor the Insurance Company Websites or my own Quote Engine that I pay around $250/month for were supposed to launch, but did not do it properly.
Kaiser #Foundation Calculation
For some reason, they show and ask about Unemployment while Covered CA nor our Quote Engine do, yet.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-20/newsom-administration-hires-special-counsel-california-unemployment-fraud-probe
If we pay the full premium now, once the unemployment benefit kicks in, in July will it [the tax credits – Zero Premium] be retroactive?
VIDEO Explanation
1st of all, what do you mean by “full premium?”
The “real” premium is $1,512. All the rest is “hocus pocus, smoke & mirrors” premium subsidies based on your estimate of what your MAGI Income will be when you do 2021 taxes.
It all gets reconciled when you file Form 8962 with your 1040.
What I learned in 1 year of Law School was to read a law 3 times and then when you think you understand it, read it again. I’ve now read the law once and skimmed a couple of times.
So, based on Part 7 Premium Tax Credit Section 9661 (g) special rule for those who receive unemployment in 2021 (b) effective date tax years after 12.31.2020.
So, when you file taxes the unemployment benefit will go back to January 1st.
I’m not an attorney or CPA. Covered CA suggests you try your own CPA or VITA
Please note too, that when Covered CA gives the wrong advice, they don’t have to make you whole!
What are the qualifications to apply for the $600 a week when are on disability
I don’t think you can get the extra $600/week if you are on disability as you’re not ready, able and willing to work.
See our webpage on SDI State Disability Insurance. If you still have questions, ask there. You don’t have to put in your full name.
My employer says I voluntarily quit my job. I say the job changed, with lower pay, more work and worse working conditions.
Can I collect unemployment?
Get the ARPA Stimulus COBRA Premium Subsidy?
CA EDD Unemployment shows
Requirements to File a Claim
When filing for UI benefits, you must have earned enough wages during the base period to establish a claim, and be:
Totally or partially unemployed.
Unemployed through no fault of your own.
Physically able to work.
Available for work.
Ready and willing to accept work immediately.
What Happens If You Quit or Get Fired
The EDD will schedule a phone interview to discuss your claim and circumstances. If you quit, you must prove good cause for quitting. and that you made all reasonable attempts to keep your job (such as requested a leave of absence or transfer).
Note: Good cause can include unsafe working conditions, a medical doctor’s advice, or protecting yourself or your child from domestic violence. If you are fired, your employer must prove there was misconduct. Either party can disagree with the decision and file an appeal. EDD FAQ * EDD Eligibility *
The elements of a voluntary quit are,
(1) leaving,
(2) most recent work,
(3) voluntarily, and
(4) without good cause. Visit EDD Website – for details
three part test to determine the presence of “good cause”
(1) Is the reason for leaving “real, substantial, and compelling”?
(2) Would that reason cause a “reasonable person,” genuinely desirous of working, to leave work under the same circumstances?
(3) Did the claimant fail to attempt to preserve the employment relationship, thereby negating any “good cause” he/she might have had in leaving? Read More EDD Voluntary Quit
My hours were cut and/or my salary was cut. Can I get unemployment for the difference?
Yes. See the paragraph above on Reduced Work Hours
You might also suggest that your employer apply for a PPP forgivable loan.
I may be filing for unemployment (CA). Am currently receiving Medi-Cal. I cannot earn more than $1945 monthly $23,792 annual? Income Chart in order to qualify for MediCal.
My concern is that EDD will take the highest earnings during the claim period and base my claim amount on that. Which is an issue, since there was one brief period last December when my monthly wages were slightly more than $1945, but soon readjusted to a consistent under-the-limit amount. I squared that with MediCal and I remained covered.
But since being furloughed from my part time last Friday (due to my department closing amidst COVID-19), I was encouraged to file for UI.
However, I am concerned that receiving that ‘artificially high’ claim amount would disqualify me from MediCal coverage. Something that I just cannot risk during these challenging times.
Thanks for any info you can impart.
I’m a taxpayer and I resent the government making incentives for people to not work to their potential!
Why do I have to work extra hours, forgo vacations, etc. to allow others to not work to their potential?
The Federal Government under the CARES act, may cover 100% of your lost income.
If you do earn too much for Medi-Cal, there is Covered CA subsidies and cost sharing reductions, so that you would pay very little premium to get say a Silver 94 or 87 plan. Get quotes and benefits illustrations here.
At least with Covered CA I make barely minimum wage to help people enroll and service their business. Medi Cal pays NOTHING!
Here’s the fact sheet on how unemployment benefits are calculated Base Periods.
It looks to me like everything gets averaged over the past year, not quarter. Please use EDD’s calculator and send me the results, if you want further help.
I put in $2k/month just for an example. Here’s what it said.
Based on your reported information, your highest quarterly earnings were
$6,000
Your estimated weekly benefit will be
$231
This amount is just an estimate. Once you file your claim, the EDD will verify your eligibility and wage information to determine your weekly benefit amount. The actual amount will be mailed to you. For more information on the UI Program, visit the UI home page.
So, when EDD is only paying 1/2, I don’t think you’re likely to go over what you earned last year. See above about the Federal Government filling in to make it 100%.
I could use someone to telemarket employer groups. Did you want to send a resume?
Chatter & FAQ’s on Facebook. Be careful of hearsay and anecdotal stories
https://www.facebook.com/groups/550043088964455/permalink/562539941048103/