On March 21, the House passed the health care overhaul bill and on March 23, President Obama signed it into law. Nobody really knows how it’s going to impact expats, but preliminary indications are that, unless you earn more than the FEIE (foreign earned income exclusion) annually in US income, it won’t effect you at all. That figure is currently $91,400.
US citizens resident in other countries will not be required to buy US insurance, but may end up with a slightly increased tax bite, depending on individual circumstances.
According to the Associated Press:
“At its core, the new law would expand health care to 32 million who lack it while cracking down on the insurance industry and cutting federal deficits by an estimated $138 billion over a decade. Most of the estimated $940 billion cost of the bill would pay for assistance to help families with annual incomes of up to $88,000 pay for insurance, although small businesses would also receive subsidies as in incentive to offer coverage to their employees.” You can read the entire article here
We’ll share new information specific to how this bill will affect US expats as it becomes available.
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Was just discussing this today with a friend! I heard that we would not be eligible for health care…
Meaning, keep taking out that travelers insurance when visiting the states!
If you get into an accident, will you get rushed to the hospital & helped without losing your home???
Francesca Maggi
Burnt by the Tuscan Sun
Nope, expats basically won’t be affected unless they make a big, US-taxable income. I read your post on the subject, and it seems strange (and depressing) to me also that we have such barbaric views about health care. Somehow I think Americans have just totally lost the concept that certain things are worth doing because they’re good for society as a whole. If it were up to us today, I suspect public education would be gone as well. But there’s plenty of help available for ailing corporations, if they’re big enough. Sick, sick, sick.
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