ACA Marketplace Premium and Subsidy Calculator

The extra subsidies Congress added in 2021 expired at the end of 2025, and no extension has been enacted, so 2027 coverage runs on the original ACA rules. The premium tax credit is the gap between the cost of the benchmark plan, the second-cheapest silver plan where you live, and a fixed share of your income: 2.15% at the bottom, 10.22% at the top. Earn a dollar more than four times the poverty line and the credit disappears. This calculator prices the benchmark in your county from the federal plan file, applies the 2027 IRS percentages, and shows how close you are to that cliff.

01The Calculator

Estimates for plan year 2027 using the second-lowest-cost silver plan premium for a 40-year-old in the county, scaled to each person's age by the federal age curve, and the IRS 2027 applicable percentages. HealthCare.gov or your state marketplace makes the official determination. Not tax or insurance advice.

02The 400% Cliff

Below four times the poverty line, the share of income you pay for the benchmark plan climbs gradually, and a raise costs you a little credit at a time. At 400% it stops. One more dollar of income and the whole credit goes, and for an older household in an expensive county that can be several thousand dollars a year at once. The chart runs your household through every income from the poverty line to five times it.

03Every County in Texas

The same household and income in every county of the state, sorted by what the benchmark plan costs after the credit. Tap a county to load it.

04Every State

Your household and income in every state, using KFF's statewide average benchmark premium for 2027. Averages hide big differences between counties, so use the calculator above for your own. Tap a state to load it.

05How the 2027 Credit Works

Start with your income as a share of the poverty line for your household size. That share sets the percentage of income you are expected to pay toward the benchmark silver plan. The credit pays the rest of the benchmark's price, and you can use it on any bronze, silver, gold or platinum plan on the marketplace. If you choose a cheaper plan, the credit still applies and you pay less, down to $0; any credit beyond the plan's premium is lost, not paid to you. If you choose a dearer one, you pay the difference. The credit is figured month by month, so months without Marketplace coverage get none.

IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-26 for plan years beginning in 2027, with the HHS 2026 poverty guidelines, which the marketplaces use for 2027 coverage: $15,960 for one person plus $5,680 for each additional person in the 48 contiguous states and DC; $19,950 plus $7,100 in Alaska; $18,360 plus $6,530 in Hawaii. The credit starts at 100% of the poverty line. In states that have expanded Medicaid, adults up to 138% get Medicaid instead; in states that have not, adults under 100% get neither, unless the state covers them another way.

Cost-sharing reductions. If your income is between 100% and 250% of the poverty line and you choose a silver plan, the deductible and copays are cut as well. The plan's actuarial value rises to 94% up to 150% of the poverty line, 87% from 150% to 200%, and 73% from 200% to 250%, and the most you can pay out of pocket in 2027 drops from $12,000 for one person ($24,000 for a family) to $4,000 ($8,000) below 200% and $9,600 ($19,200) from 200% to 250%. That is why a silver plan is often a better deal than a cheaper bronze plan at those incomes.

06What Changed for 2027

• The enhanced credits are gone. The American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act cut the share of income everyone paid, to as little as 0%, and removed the 400% limit, for 2021 through 2025. They expired. The House passed a three-year extension (H.R. 1834) in January 2026, but it has not passed the Senate.
• No limit on paying back. The credit is usually paid in advance to your insurer, based on your estimated income. Until 2025, households under 400% of the poverty line that underestimated paid back only a capped amount. From the 2026 tax year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) removed the caps: any excess is repaid in full when you file.
• Fewer immigrants qualify. From 2027, only green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and citizens of the Compact of Free Association nations can get the credit among noncitizens. Refugees, asylees, people with Temporary Protected Status and most visa holders can still buy a plan, but at full price.
• Medicaid work rules. Adults in the Medicaid expansion group face community engagement requirements from January 1, 2027, though states can ask for more time. Someone who loses Medicaid for not meeting them is still treated as eligible and cannot get the credit instead.
• Higher premiums. KFF puts the average benchmark premium for a 40-year-old at $704 a month for 2027, up 13%. Because the credit is tied to the benchmark, most people under the cut-off are shielded from the increase; people above it pay all of it.

07State Programs That Change the Math

The 22 states that run their own marketplaces for 2027 set their own open enrollment deadlines, and several add money of their own on top of the federal credit. The calculator shows the federal credit only; where a state adds help, the note in the results says so.

Marketplaces: CMS, state-based marketplaces for plan year 2027 (Oregon joins in 2027; Arkansas and Oklahoma keep using HealthCare.gov). Medicaid expansion: KFF, as of October 2026. State programs: state marketplace and insurance department announcements for 2027, checked November 2, 2026. Amounts can change during the year when funding runs out.

08What the Estimate Leaves Out

• Your exact plans. The county figure counts every plan that serves part of the county, so in a few split counties the benchmark at your ZIP code can differ. The marketplace quote is the final word.
• State age curves. Alabama, the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oregon and Utah price ages on their own curves; the calculator uses the federal one. Massachusetts limits the adult age range to 2:1, and the calculator compresses the federal curve to match. New York and Vermont do not vary premiums by age, and the calculator uses their family tiers instead.
• Tobacco. Insurers can charge tobacco users up to 50% more, and the credit does not cover the surcharge.
• Job-based coverage. If you can get affordable coverage from an employer, you cannot get the credit, even if you do not take the job's plan.
• Children. Children qualify for Medicaid or CHIP at much higher incomes than adults, in most states up to at least 200% of the poverty line, and a child who qualifies is not eligible for the credit.
• State-based marketplaces. For the 22 states that run their own marketplace, the calculator uses KFF's statewide average benchmark, because the federal plan file does not cover them.
• Enrolling outside open enrollment. The 2025 tax law bars the credit for coverage bought through the special enrollment period based only on low income; check the marketplace for how it applies when you enroll.

09Sources and Method

• County benchmark premiums: CMS, QHP Landscape, individual market medical, plan year 2027, for the 29 states on HealthCare.gov. For each county: the second-lowest silver premium for a 40-year-old among plans open to adults, times each plan's essential health benefits share; and the lowest bronze, silver and gold premiums.
• Statewide benchmark for the other 22 states, and the national figure: KFF State Health Facts, average marketplace premiums by metal tier, 2027, for a 40-year-old.
• Applicable percentages: IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-26. The 400% limit and repayment rules: 26 U.S.C. 36B, as amended by P.L. 119-21.
• Poverty guidelines: HHS, Federal Register, January 15, 2026.
• Out-of-pocket limits and cost-sharing reductions: CMS plan year 2027 premium adjustment percentage guidance, January 29, 2026.
• Age curve: CMS federal default age curve for the individual market. Noncitizen eligibility: CMS guidance, October 5, 2026.
• Method: the household's benchmark is the county's age-40 benchmark times the sum of each covered person's age factor, divided by the age-40 factor, counting only the three oldest children under 21. The credit is that yearly premium minus income times the applicable percentage, and never less than zero. Medicaid is assumed up to 138% of the poverty line in expansion states (and up to 100% in Wisconsin), and the Basic Health Program from 138% to 200% in New York, Minnesota, Oregon and the District of Columbia. Rules checked November 2, 2026.