ACA Savings Screener
A quick, educational check on whether Marketplace health coverage and premium tax credits are worth looking into for your household.
Savings for a plan year are worked out against the poverty guidelines published the year before, so the year matters.
Two-letter code, e.g. FL.
Everyone on your tax return, including yourself.
Before tax. An estimate is fine — the Marketplace asks for your expected income, not last year's.
Screening result
Marketplace savings may be worth checking.
- The income you entered is about 192% of the 2025 federal poverty guideline for a household of 1 in the 48 contiguous states and DC.
- Households in this range are the ones premium tax credits are designed for.
- The only way to know what you would actually pay is to complete a Marketplace application.
- 2025 federal poverty guideline for 1 person
- $15,650
- Your income as a share of that
- 192%
- Coverage year screened
- 2026
What this is based on
- Compared against the 2025 federal poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and DC, which are the figures used for 2026 Marketplace coverage.
- A household of 1 in that table is $15,650 a year.
- The Marketplace uses a particular measure of income — broadly your adjusted gross income plus any untaxed Social Security, tax-exempt interest and excluded foreign income, for everyone on your tax return. That is often not the same as a gross salary.
- Household size means the people on your tax return, which is not always the people living with you.
Source: HHS poverty guidelines
This is an educational screening tool, not an eligibility determination. Actual eligibility for Marketplace coverage and for any premium tax credit is decided by the Health Insurance Marketplace based on your full application, not by this tool. Figures here are based on published federal poverty guidelines and the income you entered.
What this calculator does
The Health Insurance Marketplace decides who can get help paying for coverage, and it does that from a full application. No screening tool can do it for them, and this one does not try.
What it does is the piece of arithmetic that sits underneath the whole system: it compares the household income you enter against the published federal poverty guideline for a household of your size, and tells you which educational band that puts you in. That is the same public calculation anyone can do — presented as a reason to check, not as an answer.
It will never tell you what you would pay, because that depends on the cost of a benchmark plan in your specific area, and on details only the Marketplace application collects.
How the maths works
- Take the plan year you chose, and look up the poverty guidelines that govern it — which are the ones published the calendar year before.
- Work out the figure for your household size from the table for your state: the 48 contiguous states and DC, Alaska, or Hawaii.
- Express the household income you entered as a percentage of that figure.
- Report which educational band that percentage falls in, and what generally matters in that band.
- Check for the situations that change the picture entirely — an offer of employer coverage, or being of Medicare age.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this tell me whether I qualify for a subsidy?
- No, and it deliberately will not. Eligibility for a premium tax credit is determined by the Marketplace from your full application. This tool shows you where your income sits relative to the federal poverty guidelines, which is the factor people most often want to check before starting an application.
- Why does it ask about employer coverage?
- Because it changes the answer more than income does. An offer of employer coverage that counts as affordable generally rules out a premium tax credit, however low your income is. Whether it counts as affordable depends on what you would pay for self-only coverage relative to household income.
- What income should I enter?
- Your best estimate of household income for the coverage year, before tax, for everyone on your tax return. The Marketplace asks for expected income rather than last year’s, so an estimate is the right thing to give.
- Where do the poverty figures come from?
- They are the federal poverty guidelines published each year by the Department of Health and Human Services. Alaska and Hawaii have their own, higher figures, and entering either state uses that state’s table rather than a mainland number. The result links to the source and names the year it used.
- Why does it ask which plan year?
- Because savings for a plan year are measured against the poverty guidelines published the calendar year before, not the ones current when you fill the form in. Coverage for 2026, for example, is measured against the 2025 guidelines. Using the newest table would give the wrong percentage for most of the year.
- I am 65 or older. Should I use this?
- If you are shopping on your own, probably not — at 65 most people are eligible for Medicare, which is generally a better fit than a Marketplace plan, and the screener will point you at a Medicare review instead. If you are 65 with a younger spouse or children, it is still worth running: they may need the Marketplace even when you do not.
This is an educational screening tool. It is not an eligibility determination, an application, an offer of coverage, or advice.
Eligibility for Marketplace coverage, Medicaid, and any premium tax credit is determined by the Health Insurance Marketplace based on your full application.
Federal poverty guidelines are published annually and change. The year used is shown with your result.
You may have an opportunity to reduce your health insurance costs.
Depending on household income, household size, state and eligibility, some Marketplace applicants may qualify for premium tax credits. Eligibility is determined by the Marketplace, not by this tool.