President Trump and the Republican Congress will try to enact several major policy changes starting in early 2017. Here are a couple policy areas that could seriously disrupt the lives of U.S. citizens presently living overseas:
1. Elimination of the Head of Household filing status. The Republicans' tax plan is not crystal clear yet, but Trump proposes the elimination of the Head of Household filing status. U.S. citizens with U.S. citizen children who are married to non-resident alien spouses (same and opposite sex) are among those who properly choose Head of Household when they file U.S. tax returns. The Head of Household filing status is much more favorable than the alternative Married Filing Separately filing status. U.S. citizens living in comparatively high income tax jurisdictions who presently collect the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit would lose that important income support, too. Trump's other proposed tax provisions are extremely generous to high income filers (much too generous), but other Head of Household filers would get hit with tax increases. That also includes millions of U.S. resident households, especially those with single parents or with several children.
2. Repeal of "Obamacare." Right now U.S. citizens (and their families) returning to the U.S. from overseas can enroll in "Obamacare" medical insurance as soon as they return, with full subsidies available. They have a 60 day special "welcome home" enrollment period, starting from the date they return. Republicans vow to repeal Obamacare. However, repeal without any substitute would cause tens of millions of U.S. residents to lose their medical insurance, and everyone else would face higher medical costs due to cost shifting effects. In Obamacare's place Republicans propose various "weak tea" substitutes, at best. Their proposed replacements generally bar medical insurance companies from charging new policyholders higher premiums if they have preexisting conditions, but that protection only applies if policyholders have no lapse in coverage. Returning U.S. citizens and their families do have "lapses" in coverage: they are typically enrolled in foreign medical systems when they live outside the U.S., and "enrollment" often means simply living in a country with publicly provided universal coverage. It's quite possible, even likely, that Republicans will not protect this cohort, perhaps out of sheer ignorance. (Healthcare policy is complicated.) Returning Americans could be faced with steep premiums since they won't have proof of continuous U.S. medical insurance coverage, and that's assuming they can even obtain any insurance. Also, relatedly, Obamacare is fairly well designed for legal immigrants, including for previously uninsurable, elderly foreign spouses of U.S. citizens who are not Medicare eligible for at least the first five years of their U.S. residence. Any repeal effort is likely to harm them, too.
3. Immigration complications. U.S. citizens married to non-resident alien spouses already face difficulties bringing their foreign spouses into the U.S. The process is expensive and lengthy. Those difficulties could get much worse.
I'll be keeping a close watch on these and other policy developments, with great concern.
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