Question: I'm in an odd situation where I stopped working around August of last year to return to school, BUT I do try to get some work in during breaks. Since then it's been a non-stop cycle of "submit proof of income">submit last pay stub>"welcome back". What triggers these requests?

Answer: Submitting your last pay stub doesn't really satisfy Covered California (even though they list it as an acceptable form of proof of income). They'll keep requesting proof of income until they get an easily verifiable form of proof such as your last tax return, W2 income, unemployment insurance, or disability income. Self employed income and "other" income such as rental, stocks, 401k etc almost always trigger the proof request. In addition, Covered California has access to IRS records, so if your income estimate for 2015 was more that 10% higher or lower than your 2015 tax return AGI (line 37 of 1040), you will be required to provide proof of current income again.