Free Health Insurance Assistance Available to Monroe County Residents for Special Enrollment Period and Tax Credits Reconciliation
Florida Department of Health in Monroe County
- 305-293-7500
- DOHMonroe@flhealth.gov
-
Mailing Address
1100 Simonton St.
Key West, FL
33040
Carolyn Thomson is a federally certified ACA health insurance navigator at Rural Health Network providing free, unbiased, non-commissioned health insurance assistance.
Carolyn can be reached at:
305-767-3883
Click on the image below of the Covering Florida rack cards (in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole) for more information.
Health Insurance is Important
No one plans to get sick or hurt, and most people need medical care at some point. Health insurance covers these costs and offers many other important benefits:
- Preventative care to stay healthy.
- Covers essential health benefits critical to maintain your health.
- Protection from unexpected, high medical costs.
Special Enrollment Period
If it's not Open Enrollment Period, it's a Special Enrollment Period.
You would qualify for a Special Enrollment Period 60 days before and after certain life events, such as losing health coverage, including Medicaid, moving, getting married, having a baby, and other eligibilities or if your household income is below a certain amount.
Tax Credits Reconciliation
The way that a Marketplace health plan works is that when someone applies for coverage, an Advanced Premium Tax Credit, a subsidy, is calculated according to the estimated income that is used on the application. This estimate is then reconciled to actual income for the year of coverage on that person's tax return for the year of the subsidy.
If you had a Marketplace plan for a particular year, when you file your federal income tax return for that year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will compared the reported income on your tax return with the estimated income on your application. If the income on your tax return is lower than the amount of income on your application, you may be eligible to get a refundable premium tax credit. On the other hand, if the income on your tax return is higher than the amount of income on your application, you may have to pay back some of your subsidy.
United Way Collier and the Keys provides free tax reconciliation and support through The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) at the following locations through April 15, 2025:
- Key West - Harvey Government Center, 1200 Truman Ave.
- Tuesdays 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Big Pine Key - Community Center, 179 Key Deer Blvd.
- Thursday, March 6, 2:30 - 6:30 p.m.
- Marathon - Marathon Library, 3490 Overseas Highway
- Wednesdays 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Islamorada - Islamorada Library, 81830 Overseas Highway
- Thursday, February 13, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Key Largo - Key Largo Library, 101485 Overseas Highway
- Thursdays: February 27 and March 13, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Downloadable flyers in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole below:
FREE assistance is available!
For an in-person or phone appointment, call 305-767-3883.
Connect with DOH