Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS) will be providing free enrollment assistance and educational material to Virginia families and individuals that qualify for the Affordable Care Act Special Enrollment Period from March 15-April 30.
Under the Affordable Care Act, most individuals, adults and children, are required by law to have health coverage, or face paying a fee, or penalty. While there are a few exceptions, if you do not enroll in coverage in 2015, the fee, or penalty is $325 or 2 percent of your taxable income — whichever is higher — for each adult and $162.50 for each child. The penalty will get higher every year.
“This enrollment period is specifically for those individuals and families who have been penalized on their 2014 taxes for not having health insurance and who do not have coverage for 2015,” NVFS President and CEO Mary Agee said.
“Eligible taxpayers must attest that they just learned about the requirement to be insured and want to avoid the penalty for 2015 taxes. Although we cannot help with the 2014 penalty, we can help families from paying this fine in the future — and also guard against catastrophic accidents and surprise events that can really set families back financially,” Agee said.
NVFS will be scheduling weekday appointments at the following sites in Northern Virginia: Oakton, the SERVE Campus in Manassas and Healthworks in Leesburg. There will be certified counselors onsite to assist individuals with applying and selecting a health plan.
Individuals interested in scheduling an appointment may call 571-748-2580 or visit www.getcoveredamerica.org/connector/. Plan to bring the following paperwork and information to the scheduled appointment: 2014 tax return, certificate of citizenship or other legal immigration documents, social security numbers, employer name and phone number and an email address that the individual is able to access during the appointment.