ACA Subsidy Calculator

This calculator estimates the ACA (Affordable Care Act) premium tax credit using the 2026 Federal Poverty Level guidelines and the applicable- percentage schedule from the enhanced subsidies created by the Inflation Reduction Act, which were extended through 2025 -- check whether they remain in effect for the plan year you're estimating, since the underlying dollar amount and even the shape of the schedule can change from year to year. % of Federal Poverty Level compares Annual Household Income to the poverty line for your Household Size, and that percentage determines Expected Contribution Rate: 0% at or below 150% FPL, then linearly interpolating within each successive tier -- 0% to 2% across 150-200% FPL, 2% to 4% across 200-250%, 4% to 6% across 250-300%, and 6% to 8.5% across 300-400% -- so a household just above a tier's floor pays close to that tier's starting rate, not its ceiling rate, and the rate only reaches each tier's upper bound at the tier's own ceiling. It is a real IRC Section 36B schedule, not a step function: the rate rises smoothly with income within each tier and only the eligibility line at 100% FPL and the schedule's own tier boundaries introduce any real discontinuity. Above 400% FPL the rate is flat at 8.5% under the enhanced-subsidy rules modeled here (no subsidy cliff). Monthly Premium Tax Credit is the gap between your Benchmark Silver Premium (the second-lowest- cost Silver plan in your area, annualized) and your Expected Contribution, split monthly -- and it is only computed at all when Subsidy Eligible is "Yes," which requires income at or above 100% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Below 100% FPL, this calculator reports both Subsidy Eligible as "No" and Monthly Premium Tax Credit as $0, reflecting that ACA marketplace subsidies generally are not available at that income level (households in that range are intended for Medicaid, though a state's Medicaid-expansion status affects this in practice, and this calculator does not model that nuance). Because the contribution rate is 0% from 100% FPL up through 150% FPL, income right at the 100% FPL line can show a sharp jump from no subsidy at all to a substantial subsidy -- a real cliff in the ACA's own subsidy structure, not a calculation artifact. Age of Oldest Person and Household Size feed Age Rating Factor and % of Federal Poverty Level respectively, but do not directly change Unsubsidized Premium, which is simply your entered Benchmark Silver Premium restated -- that figure already IS the unsubsidized monthly cost by definition, since it's what you'd pay before any tax credit applies.