Regardless of whether the children’s dental coverage is HMO or PPO, there will be long list of dental services that are no charge for children with in-network dentists.

Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance




You may have to pay an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) if your income is greater than $109,000 for a single adult or $218,000 for joint tax filers. The income is the Modified Adjusted Gross Income which is comprised of your AGI plus tax exempt interest. The income year is 2 years prior. For 2026, Social Security uses the 2024 tax return to determine if you are subject to the IRMAA.


Submitting the online attestation for all of the household members, should clear the verification request. Confirm that all household members are no longer under the proof of income verification request. Once complete, you will be in good standing with Covered California for proof and verification of income. If you change your income during the year, a new income verification request may be generated.


Whereas I was optimistic about 2025, I am pessimistic about 2026. Because the enhanced subsidies were not passed by Congress, Iām seeing people drop health insurance. I anticipate more people will drop health insurance during the year because they just will not be able to afford the high health insurance premiums.




The penalty is the higher of the flat rate amount or the income percentage. With the income, California takes your income and subtracts the filing threshold dollar amount. They then multiply the remainder by 2.5 percent. If the percentage amount is greater than the flat amount, that is the amount that is added to the income tax return as a penalty.


The worksheet accounts for deductibles when they may be triggered by a health care service or prescription drug. For example, the Silver 70 medical deductible applies to hospitalization. If the deductible is met, the dollar amount is added and coinsurance for the included in the subtotals. The worksheet also accounts for tier 4 maximum amount of $250 if the drug costs more under the coinsurance of the health plan.


Without an extension of the enhanced subsidies of the Affordable Care Act, older Americans will be hit the hardest by high health insurance rates. The prime culprit is that there are no Affordable Care Act health insurance subsidies for incomes over 400 percent of the federal poverty level. This leaves older Americans potentially paying over 30 percent of their household income on health insurance premiums.

Spam prevention powered by Akismet