2026 ACA Marketplace Plan Subsidy Chart and Calculator

Update on August 29, 2025

What Are ACA Subsidies?

ACA subsidies (also called premium tax credits) help lower the monthly cost of health insurance for people who buy ACA Marketplace plans through the federal marketplace or a state exchange.

To be eligible for monthly ACA plan subsidies in 2026, your income must fall within a certain range.
You have to make at least a basic minimum amount (so you don’t qualify for Medicaid), but not too much—if your income is too high, you won’t be eligible.
For 2026 coverage, individuals with household incomes between 100% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will generally qualify for ACA subsidies in the form of the Premium Tax Credit.

This range depends on your household size and is based on the federal poverty level, which the government updates each year.

The Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is a measure used by the U.S. government to determine who qualifies for certain benefits and programs—like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and subsidies on health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace.

Next Steps: Check your eligibility using our ACA Subsidy Calculator, regardless of your income, to see your estimated subsidy rate or consider switching plans.

Calculating Your 2026 ACA/Obamacare Subsidy

Subsidies are based on your income, the list price of the benchmark plan, and your required contribution toward health insurance. The actual subsidy differs between the benchmark plan and your expected contribution. You must estimate your income and compare it to the total plan premium before coverage starts.

1. Determine Your Income as a Percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)

The ACA Marketplace uses “modified adjusted gross income (MAGI)” to determine eligibility for savings compared to the FPL for your household size and state.

A household typically includes:

The tax filer
Their spouse (if applicable)
Their tax dependents, even if they don’t need coverage

2. Eligibility for Premium Tax Credits

Income Range	Subsidy Eligibility	Calculation Basis
100% – 400% FPL	✅ Eligible for Premium Tax Credits	You’re expected to contribute a percentage of your income toward the benchmark Silver plan (second-lowest-cost Silver plan). The subsidy is the difference between the benchmark premium and your expected contribution.
<100% FPL (most states)	❌ Not eligible	Usually referred to Medicaid; no ACA subsidies apply unless ineligible for Medicaid (e.g., immigration status).
100% – 138% FPL in non-expansion states	✅ Eligible	These individuals get Premium Tax Credits in non-expansion states, as they’re not eligible for Medicaid.
>400% FPL	❌ Not eligible for subsidies	The enhanced subsidy rule (available 2021–2025) that removed the 400% cap expires, so no subsidies apply regardless of premium costs.

Since you can never be sure what your total income will be at the end of the year, be realistic about your prospects of earning more or less than last year.

Use your last year’s tax return as a basis, and specifically, look at income numbers after deductions on lines 37 and 21 on your 1040 or line 4 of your 1040EZ.
If you are part of a household, you must include income from your spouse and all your dependents, even if they don’t live with you.

Know up front that if you are among the millions who don’t file an income tax return, you don’t qualify for any subsidies.

HHS Poverty Guidelines for 2025

2025 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Persons in family/household	Poverty guideline
1	$15,650
2	$21,150
3	$26,650
4	$32,150
5	$37,650
6	$43,150
7	$48,650
8	$54,150
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $5,500 for each additional person.

2025 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR ALASKA
Persons in family/household	Poverty guideline
1	$19,550
2	$26,430
3	$33,310
4	$40,190
5	$47,070
6	$53,950
7	$60,830
8	$67,710
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $6,880 for each additional person.

2025 POVERTY GUIDELINES FOR HAWAII
Persons in family/household	Poverty guideline
1	$17,990
2	$24,320
3	$30,650
4	$36,980
5	$43,310
6	$49,640
7	$55,970
8	$62,300
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $6,330 for each additional person.

When programs say things like “eligible up to 138% of FPL,” they mean:

Your income must be less than 138% of the baseline number for your household size.

So, if you’re a single person, and the FPL is $15,060, then:

138% of FPL = $20,783
If your income is under $20,783, you might qualify for Medicaid in states that expanded coverage.

3. Expected Contribution Based on Income

In 2026, unless Congress renews the temporary subsidy enhancements:

The expected contribution will revert to the original ACA scale (set by a formula adjusted annually).
Generally:
- 100%–133% FPL: ~2% of income
- 133%–150%: ~3%–4%
- 150%–200%: ~4%–6.3%
- 200%–250%: ~6.3%–8.05%
- 250%–300%: ~8.05%–9.5%
- 300%–400%: up to 9.5%
- Over 400%: not eligible

Income To Include In Your Estimate

When applying for Marketplace coverage, estimate your household income for the upcoming year, not last year’s. You’ll provide both your current monthly and yearly income.

A household typically includes:

The tax filer
Their spouse (if applicable)
Their tax dependents, even if they don’t need coverage

What income types to count in your estimate
Count these income types:	Don’t count these income types:
Alimony from divorces and separations finalized before January 1, 2019	Alimony for divorces and separations finalized on or after January 1, 2019
Capital gains	Child support
Excluded (untaxed) foreign income	Child Tax Credit checks or deposits (from the IRS)
Federal taxable wages (from your job)	Gifts
Investment income	Proceeds from loans (like student loans, home equity loans, or bank loans)
Rental and royalty income	Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Retirement or pension income	Veterans’ disability payments
Self-employment income	Worker’s compensation
Social Security
Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
Tips
Unemployment compensation

Source: healthcare.gov

Where Can I See If I Qualify for Subsidies?

You can easily estimate what sort of subsidies you might qualify for with our ACA subsidy calculator.
The calculator requires your ZIP code, household size, and income. (You may read this as annual household income, modified adjusted gross income, or yearly income – they’re all very similar.)
Your subsidy is a single amount that applies across all plans, even though different plans will charge different monthly premiums.
Once you input all your information, your premium subsidy, if any, will pop up.
It is calculated automatically, and you don’t have to do anything further.
When you sign up for a specific insurance plan, the subsidy will be sent monthly to your insurance company for the entire year, unless you drop the plan.

ACA Eligibility Mistakes and Subsidy Repayment

One of the weird quirks about Affordable Care Act health plans (also called ACA or Obamacare) is that most people don’t pay the full sticker price.

But if you overestimate your income for Obamacare, you may have to pay your government healthcare subsidy back.

Subsidy Overpayment: A Common Problem

The Affordable Care Act virtually ensures that you won’t have an accurate subsidy. That’s because your ACA subsidy is determined by your best guess of your coming year’s annual income.

You can make an educated guess using last year’s income, but there’s no way to truly enter the correct amount in advance. After all, it’s impossible to know the future. It’s normal for most people to overestimate or underestimate their ACA premium tax credit by a small amount.

There’s no added penalty for taking extra subsidies. The difference will be reflected in your tax payment or refund.

(You can instead pay your monthly premiums in full, then receive your accurate subsidy in your tax refund. This is not common since there aren’t additional penalties for overpayment outside of very rare fraud cases.)

The IRS will reconcile subsidies – for better or worse – using Form 8962, “Advance Payments of the Premium Tax Credit”. You’ll submit this with your taxes if you or someone in your tax family received any subsidies.

ACA subsidies go to people who make between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. Subsidy corrections get trickier when you receive ACA subsidies but do not fall within this income level. This is when the IRS clawback becomes a potentially serious issue.

ACA Subsidy Repayment Caps for Fiscal Year 2025:

Enrollees who receive excess premium tax credits must repay the amount.
Repayment is capped for most enrollees, based on household income.
Those with incomes at or above 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) must repay the full excess.
Repayment caps range from $375 for a single person at 100–200% FPL to $3,250 for families at 300–400% FPL (tax year 2025).
The proposal requires all recipients to repay the full excess, regardless of income.
Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.

You can expect these guidelines to be similar, but not the same, for the taxes you pay in 2026 and beyond.

These general guidelines do not apply in a few special circumstances.

If you are recently divorced, filing separate returns, sharing a plan between families, received subsidies from two different tax families during the year, did not receive a subsidy that you should have qualified for, or have other tax questions, then you’ll want to read IRS Form 8962 and accompanying Publication 974 closely to understand your special situation.

Subsidies and Lawful Immigrants Ineligible for Medicaid:

According to the IRS, “Certain aliens with household income below 100% of the federal poverty line are not eligible for Medicaid because of their immigration status. You may qualify for the PTC if your household income is less than 100% of the federal poverty line if you meet all of the following requirements:

You or an individual in your tax family enrolled in a qualified health plan through a Marketplace.
The enrolled individual is lawfully present in the United States and is not eligible for Medicaid because of immigration status.
You otherwise qualify as an applicable taxpayer (except for the federal poverty line percentage).

What if You Overestimated Your Income for Obamacare Subsidies?

Lower Than 100% FPL: If your household is making $0 – or something close to it – you should probably apply for Medicaid right away. It’s essentially free health insurance.

If your income levels qualify you for Medicaid, don’t avoid it. Not only is it a bad idea to keep paying for ACA coverage, but you’ll actually lose your subsidy, even if you would have gotten full ACA payment help by making a little more.

Fortunately, there are preset limits to how much you have to pay back, and you can also change plans at this time with ease. You need to call your federal or state Marketplace and let them know your income has changed. They can help you switch to Medicaid too.

While it’s also possible for some people to get $0 per month ACA health insurance with subsidies, you’d still have to pay coinsurance and copayments on ACA plans. These fees are not a part of Medicaid. Medicaid lasts for 1 year in most states, even if you get a job later.

This applies if you have a lower than 138% FPL, if you live in an “expanded Medicaid” state.

More Than 100% FPL: Of course, making $0 is the worst-case scenario. If you simply overestimated your income, call your state or federal marketplace to adjust your subsidy.

What if you made 175% of the poverty level, but previously estimated that you made 140%? In any case, $325 is the maximum that the IRS is allowed to claw back in subsidies from a single person who makes less than $24,000 per year.

Just don’t start making $100,000 until next year, or else you’ll have to pay all the subsidies back!

If you live in an expanded Medicaid state, then this applies if you have greater than 138% FPL.

What if You Underestimated Your Income for Obamacare Subsidies?

More Than 400% FPL: If you received a subsidy that you make too much for, you may have to pay it back. Depending on how much you overestimated by, you may have to pay back the entire subsidy you received.

If you make nearly 400%+ of the federal poverty level, it’s important to speak with an accountant to present your taxes most advantageously.

If you underestimated your income, call your state or federal marketplace to adjust your subsidy. You can do this at any time of the year.

Less Than 400% FPL: You’ll make additional payments on your taxes if you underestimated your income, but still fall within the ACA subsidy range. Fortunately, subsidy clawback limits apply if you get extra subsidies but still make less than 400% of the federal poverty level.

Alternative ACA Plan Options

If you and your family are not eligible for ACA subsidies, alternative options like short-term health insurance, fixed-benefit plans, supplemental coverage, faith-based programs, and bundled dental or vision plans may offer flexible and affordable protection tailored to your needs.

Short-Term Medical Plans

Short-term health insurance is a fast, flexible solution ideal for individuals between jobs, recent grads, or those aging off a parent’s plan, making it a strong temporary option for health insurance and affordable medical insurance for young adults in general.

With short-term medical insurance, you get fast enrollment, coverage starting the next day, and access to broad networks. It’s especially useful for those needing low-cost medical insurance or affordable self-employed health insurance.

Useful Features & Benefits

Preventive and wellness care on all plans
Copays for doctor and urgent care visits
Free and unlimited telemedicine
Prescription drug discounts
Affordable self-employed health insurance solutions
Quick online sign-up (<5 minutes)
National networks and preventive care
Great for student medical insurance, gig workers, and transition periods

Supplemental Insurance

Supplemental insurance fills in gaps left by primary coverage — ideal when you’re on a low-cost insurance plan, or private health insurance with higher deductibles. From accident insurance to critical illness protection, these supplemental health insurance plans can cover unexpected costs like rent or rehab while you recover. It’s a powerful add-on to affordable private health insurance, providing peace of mind without a major cost burden.

Types of Supplemental Insurance:

Accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and cancer policies
Everyday coverage for urgent care and surprise bills
Year-round enrollment for many plans

Dental and Vision Insurance Plans

Bundling dental and vision insurance with your private medical insurance keeps your overall health in check while helping manage out-of-pocket expenses. These plans support early detection of major health issues and offer benefits like exams, cleanings, crowns, braces, and even LASIK.

Coverage Benefits:

Routine care + major procedures with fast activation
Bundled savings with vision (glasses, lenses, exams, surgery discounts)
Useful for families, young adults, and students managing tight budgets

Health Care Sharing Ministry Programs

These faith-based plans provide an alternative to traditional private health insurance, especially for those aligned with Christian values seeking low-cost medical insurance. Though not technically insurance, they offer flexible, budget-friendly ways to share medical costs, often much cheaper than standard private medical insurance plans. Ideal for individuals seeking community-driven support and more predictable healthcare expenses.

Highlights:

Monthly “shares” instead of premiums
Great alternative to affordable private health insurance
Faith, agreement, and a healthy lifestyle are typically required

Fixed Benefit Medical Insurance

Fixed benefit medical insurance pays a set cash amount per service, giving you a predictable, deductible-free way to manage care costs — great for those on low-cost insurance plans or managing limited budgets. It works well with or as a supplement to private health insurance or short-term health insurance, especially for affordable medical insurance for young adults or the self-employed. With no network restrictions and fast payouts, it’s a solid choice for anyone needing the most affordable health insurance options.

Top Advantages:

First-dollar coverage for eligible services — no deductible
Payments made directly to you or your provider
Complements student health insurance, low-income coverage, and private plans

Dental and Vision Insurance

Dental and vision plans help you manage essential care and avoid major out-of-pocket surprises. These are especially important for early detection of broader health issues.