If you’re enrolled in a healthcare plan through Covered California, it can be easy to enroll in the fall and then forget about your enrollment status for the rest of the year. But there’s one very important reason to double check on your basic information from time to time: You want your subsidy to be calculated correctly!

If you receive a subsidy to help with the cost of your premiums, you probably know that it is based on your income and household size. Any changes in those areas can impact the calculation of your subsidy.

In the event that your income decreases or your household size increases, you could qualify for a larger subsidy. Updating that information promptly within the system can help make your healthcare plan even more affordable for you.

But there’s another reason to regularly update your basic information: If your income increases or your household size decreases, you could qualify for a smaller subsidy. While that’s not likely to be good news to you, it’s better to receive the accurate subsidy throughout the year. Otherwise, if Covered California determines your subsidy was overpaid during the year, you could owe that money back to the government at tax time in the spring.

So you definitely want to avoid that unpleasant surprise!

If your income, household size, or address change at any point during the year, you are required to report those changes to Covered California within 30 days of the change.

Take a quick inventory of those facts now, and report any necessary changes right away. You take care of this task quickly by logging into your online portal, or by contacting our office for help.