28M Delaware, need help with making sure contract health insurance is ACA compliant
I’m on contract that began in May with an employer and the employer uses a 3rd party that takes a percentage of my pay check to give me a W-2 as well as benefits. I think they use regular Aetna. This is the plan doc. I think I’m gonna opt for the $6k deductible plan since it has a lower premium since my pay is really low on my current contract project and i’m hoping that changes soon otherwise I’m leaving this contract for someone else and keeping my current 2022 ACA plan off the Marketplace.
Employer’s contract health insurance: https://www.mbopartners.com/benefits-J0V3lW/payroll-services-benefits/medical-plan/
Required notice: https://info.mbopartners.com/rs/mbo/images/MBO_Partners_Benefits_Model_Notices.pdf
A catch here I need to understand…MBO Partner reps say that since I started the contract in May 9th, I gotta wait 3 months working fulltime (which I am) to be eligible to enroll in their medical benefits+1 additional month for a determination period for eligibility. So 4 months really? But what I want to understand is that if I choose to drop my current 2022 ACA plan that I signed up for back in Nov 2021…what’s the process for that and do I need to let the marketplace know in advance that i plan to drop my 2022 ACA plan…if so, how many days in advance do I need to let them know?
Ideally, I just want to keep my 2022 ACA plan and drop it AFTER my employer’s plan kicks in without any issues, and I know that since these Aetna plan offered does seem to have the minimum Value coverage thing so I HAVE to take this Aetna plan and drop my 2022 ACA plan.
I pretty sure this is my 3rd month, so I probably have till the end of this month to decide if I’m gonna stay on this contract, but if I choose to leave and it goes past July into month 4 (August 2022?) and I still haven’t dropped my 2022 ACA plan (since I’ll be interviewing and it takes time to onboard elsewhere)…will I still get penalized in 2023 tax time for not dropping 2022 ACA plan in time? Or not, since I decided to leave this employer before the end of month 4 (August pretty much?) OR before end of 2022 to restart on a new contract and restart the plan kick-in waiting period under a new employer?
Like when is the deadline for dropping my 2022 ACA plan for me in this scenario? That’s what I wanna understand. Also if yall could point out any flaws or things to watch out for that I may have missed in the review of this Aetna plan where it’s gonna try to screw me over coverage wise? Thank you.