ACA (Obamacare) Health Insurance Subsidy Calculator 2026
Calculate your estimated premium tax credit and health insurance costs under the Affordable Care Act — the marketplace coverage most people know as Obamacare.
The 2026 ACA cliff sits at 400% of the Federal Poverty Level — $84,600 for a household of two. Cross it by $1 and you lose the entire premium tax credit: for a couple both 60 at the national-average benchmark this calculator uses, that is $23,428 a year. The 2021–2025 enhanced credit expired, which restored the cliff, and OBBBA eliminated the repayment caps from 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). The calculator below shows your exact subsidy and how close you are to the cliff.
Shopping for 2027? For 2027 the IRS set the employer-coverage affordability percentage at 10.22% of household income, and the expected contribution toward the benchmark silver plan runs from 2.15% to 10.22% of income, with no credit above 400% of the poverty line (Rev. Proc. 2026-26). On HealthCare.gov, open enrollment runs November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; choose by December 15 for coverage from January 1 (CMS, HealthCare.gov). This calculator runs the 2026 rules; the 2027 percentages and poverty-line dollars are on the 2027 ACA subsidy table, and your county’s 2027 benchmark, credit and cliff are further down this page.
For detailed technical documentation on ACA subsidy calculations, income thresholds, and cliff optimization strategies, see the QuantCalc Methodology page.
Your Information
Your Estimated ACA Subsidy
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Federal Poverty Level (FPL) | $0 |
| Income as % of FPL | 0% |
| Expected Contribution (%) | 0% |
| Benchmark Premium (Monthly) | $0 |
| Expected Annual Contribution | $0 |
The ACA cliff is a Roth-conversion timing problem
Staying under 400% FPL while still converting to Roth is a year-by-year sequencing puzzle. The Roth Conversion Planner models your exact pre-Medicare bridge — how much to convert each year to fill your tax bracket without tripping the subsidy cliff or IRMAA.
Ready to Plan Your Full Retirement Strategy?
Now that you know your ACA subsidy, optimize your full withdrawal strategy to stay under the cliff while funding your retirement. QuantCalc's Monte Carlo planner shows you exactly how much you can safely withdraw from taxable, Roth, and traditional accounts each year.
PRO unlocks: 10,000 simulations, forward-looking forecasts from multiple publicly available sources, portfolio optimizer, and PDF reports.
See this in your state
ACA cliff threshold (400% FPL) is federal, but the dollar damage of crossing it depends on state tax. Top-tax states (worst stack-up) and no-state-tax states (cleanest math):
Each state page has the federal-state-ACA stack-up worked out with a state-specific Roth conversion example, plus the state's 30-year Monte Carlo retirement success rate (from our 51-state research).
Related Tools
Next decision: Ladder conversions without losing subsidies — plan your Roth conversion ladder →
Shopping for 2027? Your county’s benchmark, credit and cliff
The calculator above runs the 2026 rules. For 2027 coverage, CMS has published the marketplace premiums for the HealthCare.gov states (CMS QHP Landscape PY2027): pick your county to see its benchmark (second-lowest-cost silver) premium for your ages, the 2027 credit at your income, what a dollar over 400% of the poverty line would cost you, and how much income you can add before it. It uses the 2027 applicable percentages and the 2026 poverty guidelines. Every state and county: 2027 ACA Benchmark Premiums and Subsidies for Early Retirees, by State and Age (50 to 64).
Plan each year’s income under the cliff (Roth conversions, withdrawals) — ACA Bridge Optimizer → (it runs the 2026 rules)
County level: where a plan serves only part of a county the benchmark at your ZIP code can differ. HealthCare.gov's plan preview shows your exact figure. Sources: CMS QHP Landscape PY2027, CMS Rate PUF PY2027.
2026 year-end check: your MAGI against the 400% FPL cliff
The calculator above prices a MAGI you type. The credit you keep is set by the MAGI your 2026 return ends up with, and December is the last month a Roth conversion, a capital gain or a large IRA withdrawal can still move it.
Example: a single 60-year-old in North Carolina on a marketplace plan, living on $40,000 of IRA withdrawals, has a 2026 ACA MAGI of $40,000 and a premium tax credit of about $12,823 for the year. Income can rise $22,600 before it passes 400% of the poverty line. A $20,000 Roth conversion in December adds $3,198 of federal and state tax and shrinks the credit by $2,540; a $25,000 conversion crosses the cliff and loses $12,823 of credit, which from 2026 is repaid in full on the return (IRC §36B; no repayment cap: Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
An estimate from QuantCalc’s open tax engine (federal 2.6.0, state 1.26.0) for the 2026 tax year. Not tax advice: your return depends on facts this page does not ask about, so check a move with your tax preparer or custodian before acting. How the engine computes each line, with its official source: federal, state.
Will a December conversion cost you the credit?
The credit is reconciled on your 2026 return against your 2026 MAGI. Enter the year so far and a move you are weighing before December 31: the tax engine builds the ACA MAGI (AGI plus tax-exempt interest plus the Social Security that is not taxed) and prices the credit with and without the move.