South Dakota or Florida

[Zulu]

6 hours ago, Blues said:

You seem resistant to the idea that people use their mailing address for health insurance, but have never offered any other practical solution.  I think that's because there isn't any other practical solution.  I know it, fulltimers who travel know it, and it healthcare.gov knows it. 

I typically end up suggesting contacting healthcare.gov . . . and you took my advice. Kudos.

I'm not resistant to people using a mailing address. However, I do try to caution against "in-name-only" domiciles (or residencies) like these appear to be -- How I Moved to Florida in an Hour (2015) and Two Texans Become Floridians (2017). In both of these two examples, the bloggers "moved" (the quotes are theirs) to FL for ACA health insurance. In 2016, the ACA addressed "moving for healthcare" in this Health & Human Services SEP FAQ.

From what I gather, neither blogger returned to FL. However, without knowing more specifics for each one, they may be legit ACA residents. I don't know, but their blogs suggest otherwise -- "moved".

On the other hand, nancyrwall said she was only using MN for heath insurance, never planned to return to MN, and was planning on changing her domicile . . .

On 9/19/2018 at 5:28 AM, nancyrwall said:

I have been full-time for the past 16 months and I never plan to return to MN to live.  I only have kept my domicile there for the MN health insurance until I go on Medicare.  Since I just bought the new vehicle and have to choose a state in which to register it in, I thought I might as well change my domicile now rather than next summer. 

Despite what healthcare.gov said to you, I think if you read nancyrwall's post verbatim, you might have received a different response.

It's obvious (at least to me) that some full timers are using questionable or outright fraudulent means to obtain ACA health insurance.

On the other hand, I'll bet that most won't suffer any adverse consequences.

So what's the big deal? Two things I think:

• Avoid self-incriminating posts or blogs -- it's one thing to brag about how you did a paint-by-numbers domicile move, but quite another to suggest a fraudulent course of action.
• What might happen if you have a major (ie, expensive) medical incident -- I think your ACA health insurer could care less what you're up to as long as you just pay their monthly premium. However, when you require medical care, especially expensive care, your insurer may take a closer look at you.

[Kirk W]

6 hours ago, Zulu said:

It's obvious (at least to me) that some full timers are using questionable or outright fraudulent means to obtain ACA health insurance.

I have not studied the ACA, but are you saying that it covers Medicare as well? The reference you give is from CMS who manages Medicare but are they also involved when you are not on Medicare but have a private policy? 

[LoringLaw]

Healthcare should be procured in the state you "intend to call home", the case law definition of "domicile" in the United States. For fulltime RVers you must take additional steps to show that you are calling a certain state your home. For example, if you choose Texas you can do the "easy steps" sometimes in one day. You can procure an address from, say, Escapees showing that you now live on Rainbow Drive in Livingston, Texas. Using that address, you can get your vehicles inspected and registered in downtown Livingston. Once you have your vehicles registered, you can drive two blocks to the Texas Drivers License office and get your new drivers license (by turning in your unexpired license from the state from which you have moved). After that you can register to vote, submit an Affidavit of Domicile to the court . Then, however, come the more difficult steps. You need to show you really have moved to Texas. Changing your banks, finding local professionals for healthcare, accounting, legal work, changing your wills and powers of attorney to Texas, procuring a local library card, joining local clubs and shedding items from the state from which you have moved are all important steps to creating your new domicile in Texas. Once done, there will be no hint of healthcare fraud as some have suggested above. Please understand, though, that this is a process and must be carefully considered before you choose your next home.

[Zulu]

5 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

I have not studied the ACA, but are you saying that it covers Medicare as well? The reference you give is from CMS who manages Medicare but are they also involved when you are not on Medicare but have a private policy? 

This reference -- Health & Human Services SEP FAQ -- only addresses the ACA's Special Enrollment Period (SEP), in particular what being a "resident" means for ACA purposes.

[Zulu]

Welcome to the forum! There is a real need for your expert advice, especially on domicile matters. A couple of questions . . .

 

46 minutes ago, LoringLaw said:

You need to show you really have moved to Texas. Changing your banks, finding local professionals for healthcare, accounting, legal work, changing your wills and powers of attorney to Texas, procuring a local library card, joining local clubs and shedding items from the state from which you have moved are all important steps to creating your new domicile in Texas.

 

Besides the above, how important is it to actually live in Texas (or any other state for that matter)?

 

46 minutes ago, LoringLaw said:

 Once done, there will be no hint of healthcare fraud as some have suggested above. Please understand, though, that this is a process and must be carefully considered before you choose your next home.

This follows my first question. Since the ACA is a Federal, not a state, program that is concerned with where you actually reside (see Health & Human Services SEP FAQ), you would advise people to actually live in a state then, right? If so, about how long?

 

Finally, is this person's course of action fraudulent?

On 9/19/2018 at 5:28 AM, nancyrwall said:

I have been full-time for the past 16 months and I never plan to return to MN to live.  I only have kept my domicile there for the MN health insurance until I go on Medicare.  Since I just bought the new vehicle and have to choose a state in which to register it in, I thought I might as well change my domicile now rather than next summer. 

[2gypsies]

How many full-timers actually LIVE in one state?

[LoringLaw]

The reason this is so cumbersome is because fulltime RVers don't actually "live" in any given state, under the old definition of "live" meaning owning or renting a home. Because of the lifestyle, there's a bigger need to have roots in that state you call home like the ones I mentioned in the previous post. Local banks, local professionals, joining local clubs can all help establish domicile even though you are a full time RVer.

[sandsys]

47 minutes ago, LoringLaw said:

Local banks, local professionals, joining local clubs can all help establish domicile even though you are a full time RVer.

Joining a local church, too, and sending your pledge money when you are not at home. I would think this is a good sign of "intent" but I'm not a lawyer so take my advice for what you paid for it.

Linda

[budeneighe]

On 9/11/2018 at 3:25 AM, Mark and Dale Bruss said:

My Volvo was registered in SD as a Private Truck and I only needed a class C license to drive because it was not used commercial.   And SD had come out with a procedure to register an HDT as an motorhome.  You need to be more accurate. 

When I registered it in the fall of 2013 SD had removed the option of converting an HDT to a motorhome and registering it as such. There was a letter that had been sent out to some that had previously done this which reverted their motorhome status to private truck. A copy of this letter had been posted in this forum when it happened but has since fallen off of the archives.

[Blues]

21 hours ago, Zulu said:

On the other hand, nancyrwall said she was only using MN for heath insurance, never planned to return to MN, and was planning on changing her domicile . . .

Despite what healthcare.gov said to you, I think if you read nancyrwall's post verbatim, you might have received a different response.

You're mischaracterizing what nancyrwall said.  She said, "I have only kept my domicile there for the MN health insurance."  The "kept" indicates that she was a Minnesota resident before fulltiming, and didn't change her domicile when she started fulltiming.  If that's the case, you're saying she's an illegitimate Minnesotan just because her motivation to remain a Minnesotan was that she wanted to take advantage of a Minnesota citizenship (as well as disadvantages, including a state income tax). 

She has to domicile somewhere; you're saying she's not entitled to keep her domicile where she was already living.  That just doesn't make practical sense.

And remember--there's the Sanchez decision, which shows that it can be very hard to shed oneself of Minnesota residency.  But you're saying she doesn't have the option of doing what the court forced on the Sanchezes despite the Sanchezes' efforts at not being Minnesotans.  So the Sanchezes were declared Minnesotans against their will, and you're saying nancyrwall must become a non-Minnesotan against her will.  That doesn't make sense.

Unless healthcare.gov has a secret health insurance plan for fulltimers that none of us know about, the response they give to the question "Given my circumstances as a fulltime RVer who doesn't stay in one place for more than a week or two at a time, what state should I use for health insurance?" will be the name of a state.  You say it can't be Minnesota.  That leaves 49 possibilities.  Will the representative just pick one from the 49 at random?  Of course not.  Could nancyrwall pick one at random?  Of course not. 

And that's my point.  Minnesota is the only one that makes any sense at all, yet you insist it's not available.  So it must be one of the other 49.  Which one is it?

 

[Zulu]

17 minutes ago, Blues said:

You're mischaracterizing what nancyrwall said . . .

Your rationalizing has reached new heights, but I'm more interested why Loring Law didn't answer my questions.

[Blues]

22 hours ago, Zulu said:

Your rationalizing has reached new heights,

I'm not rationalizing anything--I'm asking what would be a better choice, in your view, for nancyrwall's domicile, since you say Minnesota doesn't qualify.

Let's try this one:  Bob has lived in Maine for his entire life.  In previous visits to Mexico, he made a lot of friends in a village where a lot of expats live, and two years from now, he's going to move there permanently.  Once he moves there, he'll be returning to the U.S. only as required to stay out of immigration trouble--maybe just stepping foot across the border for the minimum required time. 

But until then, Bob's going to travel fulltime in the U.S., seeing all of the country he can in those two years, before settling down in Mexico.  He moves out of his rental apartment and buys an RV and gets rid of everything that won't fit in his RV.  He has no intention of either returning to Maine (been there, done that) or being in one place for more than a few days during his two-year whirlwind tour of the U.S.

He has to maintain a domicile in the U.S. during those two years.  Where should it be, and why?

[TheJoblessRver]

This is a great article to help you make a decision: https://www.moneycrashers.com/rv-living-choose-domicile-state-get-mail/

Luckily I have my domicile based out of Texas which has been great so far. 

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, TheJoblessRver said:

This is a great article to help you make a

Not everything in that article is accurate.