Income
Need help calculating your income?
HealthSource RI uses your Annual Income to calculate the amount of financial help you can receive to reduce the cost of your health insurance.
But if you’re unemployed or changed jobs recently, you know that it’s hard to calculate how much money you’ll make this year.
Below are common questions about how income affects your eligibility, the types of income to include, and how to report and verify it accurately. Keeping this information up to date ensures you receive the right benefits and avoid any issues during tax season
Why do I need to provide HSRI my income information?
If you want to see if you qualify for financial help to lower the cost of your health coverage, you must provide details about your household income. To determine eligibility, HSRI will compare your household’s income to the Federal Poverty Level, a measure of income based on household size. Keeping your income accurate and up-to-date helps you receive the right amount of financial help, including no-cost Medicaid (if eligible), and avoid any surprises at tax time.
What is the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)?
The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is a measure of income issued every year by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). FPL is used to determine eligibility for certain programs and benefits, including help paying for health insurance. For example, if your household income is twice the FPL for a household of your size, then your income is considered 200 percent FPL.
HSRI uses your FPL percentage to calculate how much you should contribute each month towards the cost of your health coverage for it to be considered “affordable.” When the cost of coverage is not deemed affordable to you, you can qualify for financial help to lower the cost. You can see if you qualify by completing a health insurance application with HSRI.
What types of income do I add to my application?
Generally speaking, the income to include is what is considered taxable income. For more details, please see the table below:
| Counts as Income |
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| Doesn’t Count as Income |
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Why do I need to provide my tax filing status?
You do not need to report a tax filing status to submit a health coverage application. However, to qualify for financial assistance for your health coverage such as Advance Premium Tax Credits and Cost-Sharing Reductions, you need to report your tax filing status.
What is the Consent for Use of Income Data?
Customers must give HSRI permission to obtain, use and share confidential information in compliance with HSRI application policies. This includes HSRI requiring consent to determine if an application is eligible for financial help. If you do not provide consent or your consent expires, you will be denied financial help.
The consent can be completed within the E-Signature page of the application. This is also where you can select how many years you would like your consent to remain valid. As a shortcut, customers can update their consent directly from their dashboard of their online account when it’s set to expire.
What is the difference between Current Monthly Income and Annual Income?
Your Current Monthly Income is what you gross each month (earnings before taxes or other deductions) from various income sources each month. If you choose to apply for help paying for your health coverage, your MAGI Medicaid eligibility will be determined off your Current Income.
Your Annual Income is the household’s projected annual household income for the tax year. This will help determine eligibility for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions.
For example, a landscaper may make $10,000 a month during peak season, but $1,000 in slower months. Therefore, their current monthly income fluctuates. Their annual income might be $39,000 – a combination of all the months in a calendar year. If there is more than one tax-filer in your household, their income will also be included in your Current Monthly Income and Annual Income.
How does HSRI calculate my Current Monthly Income?
Current Monthly Income is the cumulative total of what you earned before taxes (or grossed) for the current month. As a simple equation, it is Earned Income + Self-Employment Income + Other Income – Deductions.
Keeping your income accurate and up-to-date helps you receive the right amount of financial help, including no-cost Medicaid (if eligible), and avoid any surprises at tax time.
How does HSRI calculate my Annual Income?
Your projected annual income will be the annualized (multiplied by 12) amount of your monthly income. For example, if you earn $2,000/month, your projected annual income would be $24,000/year.
But what if you had changes to your income throughout the year? No worries, our system automatically updates your projected annual income based on all reported changes. This is a prorated amount as the system considers how the income is distributed throughout the year. For example, if you earned $2,000/month from January through June, then you had a raise to $2,500/month from July through December, it would not be accurate to say your total projected annual income is $30,000 because you did not receive the increase until halfway through the year. Instead, your projected annual income would be $27,000.
What if I already know the exact amount I will be earning for the year? You will have the option to enter this amount into your application. Our system will automatically calculate what we THINK your projected annual income will be based on what you reported in the application. However, you will have the option to select “No” to the projected amount and enter your own value. If you are eligible for a Qualified Health Plan and apply for financial assistance, these benefits will be determined based on the new value you entered. Otherwise, the system will use the calculation.
How do I verify my income?
For more information about how to verify your income for HeaIthSource RI, click here.
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