Estimate your U.S. Marketplace (ACA / Obamacare) premium after the premium tax credit for plan year 2027. Choose your state, enter household MAGI and size, answer the employer-coverage questions, then paste the Silver benchmark from an official quote. At $45,000 MAGI for a family of two with Silver $550, the estimate is about $265 per month after credit — roughly $550 Silver minus about $285 credit. Premiums come from the quote you paste — not from a guessed ZIP rate.
People estimating a U.S. Marketplace (ACA / Obamacare) premium tax credit for plan year 2027 — including the self-employed — who can paste a real Silver benchmark quote.
Estimated annual MAGI for the tax household, household size, state, and the monthly Silver (benchmark / SLCSP) premium from HealthCare.gov or your state Marketplace. Optional: Bronze premium and whether a job plan is offered.
An estimated premium tax credit and the estimated monthly Silver premium after that credit, plus a simple split of credit vs what you pay. Bronze after credit is a premium comparison only.
Official Marketplace eligibility, Medicaid/CHIP, citizenship rules, cost-sharing reductions, or a final IRS decision. Employer affordability is only zeroed when you confirm an affordable, minimum-value offer for the employee.
Enter income and a Silver premium from an official Marketplace quote. The estimate will appear here.
Official rules and enrollment belong on HealthCare.gov or your state Marketplace. Methodology: How we calculate your estimate. Related: household budget, rainy-day fund.
Why the cliff matters · plan year 2027
Under current law for 2027, the enhanced ARPA/IRA subsidy table no longer applies. A couple with $45,000 MAGI and a $550 Silver benchmark pays about $265 per month after the premium tax credit. Raise the same household to $90,000 MAGI (about 416% of FPL) and the credit is $0 — they pay the full $550. The plan quote did not change; the statutory cliff did.
That pair is a simple before-and-after: one plan quote, two incomes, one cliff. You still paste real Marketplace premiums, so the estimate stays tied to your county quote instead of a made-up ZIP price.
“One Silver quote, two incomes: about $265 a month with a credit at $45,000 MAGI, and $550 with no credit at $90,000 — above 400% FPL under 2027 rules, in one sentence.”
The premium tax credit for plan year 2027 follows the original §36B structure under current law — the same framework summarized on the IRS Premium Tax Credit page. Household income is compared with the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines. An applicable percentage from Rev. Proc. 2026-26 sets how much of that income the household is expected to pay toward coverage. The credit is the gap between the annual Silver benchmark premium and that expected contribution, and it cannot go below zero.
Example step by step: income $45,000 and household size 2 → FPL $21,640 → about 207.9% of FPL. In the 200–250% band the applicable percentage rises smoothly from 6.78% to 8.66%, about 7.08% here. Expected annual contribution ≈ $3,185. With Silver $550/mo ($6,600/yr), the annual credit ≈ $3,415 (about $285/mo). Net Silver ≈ $265.46/mo. If Bronze is $380, net Bronze ≈ $95.46/mo — a lower monthly premium, not a claim about total medical costs.
At $90,000 for the same household (about 416% of FPL) the credit is $0 under the 400% cliff. If you confirm affordable, minimum-value employer coverage for the employee, the estimate sets the credit to $0; unsure answers keep the estimate with a warning. Without a pasted Silver premium the calculator asks for that amount instead of guessing a price from ZIP.
Limits: ages and ZIP do not fetch Marketplace prices here; Medicaid and CHIP rules are not modeled in full; citizenship and lawfully present status are outside this estimate. See How we calculate your estimate for what is official and what is approximate.
FPL% = MAGI / FPL(size, state) × 100
applicable % = Rev. Proc. 2026-26 table (linear within each band; none above 400% FPL)
expected contribution = MAGI × applicable %
PTC (annual) = max(0, Silver monthly × 12 − expected contribution)
net Silver monthly = max(0, Silver monthly − PTC / 12)
That is the simplified §36B premium tax credit formula used for education on this page — not a filing or enrollment decision.
The figures below use the same worked path as the calculator: family of 2, contiguous FPL, Silver $550/mo, plan year 2027.
At $45,000 MAGI the credit covers most of the monthly Silver premium. The household still pays the remainder.
Four boxes show the path the calculator follows for the main example.
Share of MAGI the household is expected to pay toward the Silver benchmark. Within each band the percentage rises smoothly from the low end to the high end.
| Income as % of FPL | Applicable % |
|---|---|
| Under 133% | 2.15% |
| 133% – under 150% | 3.23% → 4.30% |
| 150% – under 200% | 4.30% → 6.78% |
| 200% – under 250% | 6.78% → 8.66% |
| 250% – under 300% | 8.66% → 10.22% |
| 300% – 400% | 10.22% |
| Above 400% | No credit (cliff) |
Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-26 for taxable years beginning in 2027. The main example (~207.9% FPL) sits in the 200–250% band.
Annual FPL amounts used for plan year 2027 estimates on this page. Alaska and Hawaii use higher tables.
| Household size | Annual FPL |
|---|---|
| 1 | $15,960 |
| 2 | $21,640 |
| 3 | $27,320 |
| 4 | $33,000 |
| 5 | $38,680 |
| 6 | $44,360 |
| 7 | $50,040 |
| 8 | $55,720 |
Each additional person after 8: +$5,680. Alaska and Hawaii guidelines are higher; the state selector switches those tables automatically.
These terms shape the estimate. Numbers below match the $45,000 / family of 2 example unless noted.
~$265.46 / mo after credit
About 207.9% of FPL; applicable percentage about 7.08%. Annual cost after credit about $3,185. About $1,855 less per year than a $420 current premium.
$550 / mo (no credit)
≈416% FPL. Under current law for 2027 the credit is $0.
~$129.77 / mo after credit
≈175.4% FPL. Bronze after credit can reach $0 in this quote while Silver stays above zero.
~$234.97 / mo after credit
≈166.7% FPL. Annual cost after credit ≈ $2,820. About $4,380 less per year than a $600 current premium.
The calculator multiplies household income by the applicable percentage from Rev. Proc. 2026-26, then subtracts that expected contribution from the annual Silver benchmark premium you enter. The credit is max(0, Silver annual − expected contribution). Your estimated monthly Silver cost is the entered Silver premium minus the monthly credit, not below $0.
The 2026 HHS poverty guidelines published in the Federal Register (48 contiguous states/DC, with separate Alaska and Hawaii tables). For a family of two in the contiguous states the guideline is $21,640. Plan year 2027 estimates commonly use the prior year’s HHS table.
Under current law for plan year 2027, income above 400% of FPL means no premium tax credit for that scenario — the original §36B cliff. Enhanced ARPA/IRA credits expired after 2025 unless Congress changes the statute. At $90,000 MAGI for a family of two (~416% FPL) with the sample Silver quote, this page shows $0 credit.
Marketplace premiums vary by county, age, and tobacco use. This calculator does not look up a price from ZIP alone. Paste the benchmark Silver (SLCSP) and optional Bronze quotes from HealthCare.gov or your state Marketplace. Without a Silver premium it will not guess a dollar amount.
Only when you confirm that the employer offers coverage, the employee-only plan is affordable under Marketplace rules, the plan meets minimum value, and the employee needs Marketplace coverage. Incomplete or unsure answers keep an income-and-Silver estimate with a warning instead of forcing $0. The 2027 employee-only affordability percentage is 10.22% under Rev. Proc. 2026-26. Confirm on the Marketplace.
Yes. ACA, Obamacare, and Premium Tax Credit (PTC) refer to the same Marketplace subsidy framework under §36B. This page estimates the 2027 credit from MAGI, FPL, and the Silver benchmark you paste — it is not an official Marketplace or IRS determination.
No. A lower monthly premium can mean higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs when you use care. This calculator compares monthly premiums after the estimated credit; it does not estimate medical bills or claim Bronze is the cheapest plan overall.
The anonymous copy button shares only the estimated monthly premium after credit and the plan year. It does not put income, ZIP code, ages, or other household details into the clipboard text.
Use HealthCare.gov or your state’s Marketplace. The result panel links to the Marketplace associated with the state you select. CalcBoxer does not sell insurance.
See How we calculate your ACA estimate for FPL tables, the applicable percentage bands, the credit formula, and what is official versus an approximation.
Primary authorities for the math on this page. Each link is the document (or official explainer) the calculator is built against — not a marketing summary.
Data version 2027-ptc-v3 · page updated October 22, 2026 · reviewer Hubert Ligocki.
