A lot of DUers do seem very knowledgeable about it.

Best I can do is rec the thread in the hopes that, if it becomes more visible, more of them will see it.

So I'm distressed to hear that I might have to do a lot of pointless and impossible estimating. And the proof of income (where they want a tax return) is irritating and silly -- at this point I only have a 2013 tax return and I'm really supposed to be estimating my 2015 income...

A considerable chunk of my income is what I make it -- if I sell and buy stock, the selling generates a capital gain which is income to them. If I do a Roth conversion, that's income to them. But I don't make these decisions at the end of the previous year, they are decisions I can't even begin to forecast!

To me, I don't get why MNSure (the Minnesota healthcare exchange) is making such a big hoo hah about this, since we ultimately have to settle up with the IRS -- e.g. when I file my 2014 tax return, I have to pay back any excess subsidy I may have gotten {1}. As well as of course any underpayment of regular taxes.

I pay estimated taxes quarterly to the IRS, and basically I've been paying in an amount as if I will have to pay back the subsidy anyway because, well, in case any stock sales and Roth conversions push me over the 400% of Poverty Line, I will have to give it all back.

So the advance subsidy is kind of worthless to me since I'm giving it back in my quarterly estimated tax payments in anticipation of a plausible worst case (I'm just beginning to decide on whether to do a Roth conversion and some stock sales, so even at this late date I don't know where I'm going to end up at year end 2014).

So why don't they leave it at that? (Settling up when filing the tax return). Any modest underpayment of estimated taxes for whatever reason results in interest and a modest penalty, so they are getting all their money -- PLUS interest and a penalty. SIGH.

{1} ONE IMPORTANT CORRECTION FOR MOST PEOPLE: actually, some people won't have to pay back all of any excess subsidy they get. There are different maximum paybacks based on income -- http://ctmirror.org/obamacare-user-guide-qas/
I think their chart got misaligned, what I think they mean it to say is this:
0-200% of FPL: max payback cap is $300;
200-300% of FPL: $750,
300-400% of FPL: $1250,
400%+ of FPL: no limit.
(FPL is Federal Poverty Limit)
So maybe this is why they are trying to make sure that people don't deliberately underestimate their income

Definitely. But I don't think it will do much good, because the RepubliCONs want the process to be as difficult as possible, and of course they're in control of both Houses beginning January.

But then maybe it won't take legislative changes to get some of this stupidity fixed.

Re-upped through CoveredCA for exactly what I had this year. Took minutes.
Then I received a letter saying I was NOT eligible for a program I didn't even attempt to sign up to get.
There is a two+ hour wait to talk to someone on the phone....the chat line on the CoveredCA website does not take this as an acceptable question. I even drive to the nearest (not) CCA help office to ask someone about it. Their advance was to IGNORE it.
So,either I do that or risk losing my insurance in 90 days. More likely it's the 2+ hours on the phone. Blerg.

And I didn't ask to be on Medicaid at all, and anyway the limit on Medicaid in Minnesota (and all the other states that took the ACA Medicaid expansion) was/is 138% of poverty. (MNSure is Minnesota's ACA exchange which also, to some extent is a front door to Medicaid too).

After a couple of calls, they eventually cancelled it (but the only way I know that is that they said they would, and I haven't gotten any mailings from them in almost a year. Whereas anyone on Medicaid is being nagged every 6 months, or more often, for proof of income and such)

Fortunately this Medicaid snafu didn't gum me up for simultaneously signing up for a regular ACA policy. (That's a whole 'nuther story, but I expected things to be rocky the first year -- basically MNSure didn't forward my information and initial premium payment to HealthPartners, the insurer I chose. HealthPartners told me that MNSure sent them a bunch of information on people enrolling in their plans, but it was all garbled up).

I get to a page that keeps loading & loading....I even tried at the library and it keeps loading and loading. I was uninsured last year & will be again this year. I just can't afford it.

went to the library where there were certified health care advisers. Guess what happened? Same as what happened to me, a page refused to load. I asked her if she had seen this before, her answer was "not since last year." She suggested I fill out a paper application. I told her that was no help, because I need to see the plans & their costs and what they have to offer before I choose a plan.

This got me wondering, reading it again. Back late last year or early this year I heard discussion on NPR radio about how the exchanges have access to tax data -- not just the latest tax returns, but also the info that flows into the IRS during the year on a monthly or quarterly basis -- like dividends and wage data and Social Security benefits ... -- is shared with the exchanges

Have you heard if that's not true anymore?

I met with today, that what you have said is still true. It came up in conversation, because I'm not sure of my income for 2015, if it fluctuates she said, the IRS will if they have to lower any aid that I may get.

scanned all that to files and sent the proof to them as reported income and I didn't have any problems.