Where is the 2027 subsidy cliff for your household?
The cliff sits at 400% of the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines, which set 2027 tax credits. Household income above these amounts gets no premium tax credit in 2027:
| Household size | 48 states and DC | Alaska | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $63,840 | $79,800 | $73,440 |
| 2 | $86,560 | $108,200 | $99,560 |
| 3 | $109,280 | $136,600 | $125,680 |
| 4 | $132,000 | $165,000 | $151,800 |
| 5 | $154,720 | $193,400 | $177,920 |
| 6 | $177,440 | $221,800 | $204,040 |
| 7 | $200,160 | $250,200 | $230,160 |
| 8 | $222,880 | $278,600 | $256,280 |
Every line on the poverty chart, from 100% to 400%, is in the 2027 federal poverty level chart.
How much is the 2027 cliff worth?
At 400% of the poverty line, the IRS’s 2027 table caps what a household pays for the benchmark silver plan at 10.22% of income. The credit pays the rest of that plan’s price. One dollar over 400%, the household pays the whole premium.
| Household | Income at 400% | Most paid for the benchmark plan at 400% | One dollar over |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $63,840 | $6,524 a year ($544 a month) | Full price |
| 2 people | $86,560 | $8,846 a year ($737 a month) | Full price |
| 4 people | $132,000 | $13,490 a year ($1,124 a month) | Full price |
The credit lost at the cliff is the benchmark plan’s full price minus those amounts. Federal rating rules (45 CFR 147.102) let a 64-year-old’s premium be three times a 21-year-old’s, so the cliff costs early retirees and older couples the most. Where the benchmark plan costs less than 10.22% of income in 2027, there’s no credit to lose.
Why is there a subsidy cliff again in 2027?
The American Rescue Plan Act removed the 400% limit and lowered what households pay, and the Inflation Reduction Act extended that through 2025. Both changes applied only to years before 2026 under 26 U.S.C. 36B. For 2027, the Affordable Care Act’s original 400% limit applies again, with the shares of income set in IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-26.
What income counts toward the 400% line?
The line is measured on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) for everyone in the tax household who has to file:
- Counts: wages, self-employment profit, taxable retirement withdrawals, capital gains, untaxed Social Security, tax-exempt interest and excluded foreign income.
- Lowers it: anything that lowers adjusted gross income, such as pre-tax 401(k) or 403(b) contributions through work, deductible IRA contributions and HSA contributions. Every bronze and catastrophic Marketplace plan has been HSA-eligible since January 2026 (P.L. 119-21, section 71307).
- Doesn’t lower it: the new deductions in P.L. 119-21 for people 65 and older, tips, overtime and car-loan interest. They come off after adjusted gross income, so the cliff doesn’t see them.
What happens if 2027 income ends up over 400%?
From tax year 2026 on, P.L. 119-21 (section 71305) requires repaying all excess advance credit, with no cap. A household that took advance credits on a 2027 estimate under 400% and finished the year above it repays the whole year’s credit on its 2027 tax return. Reporting income changes to HealthCare.gov during the year shrinks the advance credit, and with it the bill.
Worked repayment examples, and the last capped year for comparison, are in premium tax credit repayment in 2027.
Could Congress change the 2027 cliff?
H.R. 1834, a three-year extension of the enhanced credits, passed the House on Jan. 8, 2026 and has waited on the Senate calendar since Feb. 10, 2026. GPO’s bill status record showed no later action when Coverage Decider checked it on Oct. 27, 2026. Federal funding under the current stopgap bill runs to Dec. 11, 2026, so a deal before then could change 2027 credits during open enrollment. Coverage Decider uses the law as written and will update this page and its 2027 numbers if Congress acts.
What would bringing back the enhanced credits change in 2027?
The enhanced credits set their own table in 26 U.S.C. 36B(b)(3)(A)(iii) for the years before 2026, and 36B(c)(1)(E) dropped the 400% limit for those years. An extension that repeated those rules for 2027 would change the most a household pays for the benchmark plan. Congress could also write different numbers, so treat this as the 2025 rules applied to 2027 incomes, not a forecast.
Coverage Decider worked these out for one person in the 48 states, from the 2026 guideline of $15,960 (91 FR 1797), rounded to the nearest dollar. The 2027 law uses each band’s starting share from Rev. Proc. 2026-26.
| Income, one person | 2027 law | 2025 enhanced rules |
|---|---|---|
| 150% ($23,940) | 4.30%: $1,029 a year | 0%: $0 |
| 200% ($31,920) | 6.78%: $2,164 a year | 2%: $638 |
| 300% ($47,880) | 10.22%: $4,893 a year | 6%: $2,873 |
| 400% ($63,840) | 10.22%: $6,524 a year | 8.5%: $5,426 |
| 500% ($79,800) | No credit: full price | 8.5%: $6,783 |
Under the 2025 rules, income over 400% still got a credit whenever the benchmark plan cost more than 8.5% of income. That is the cliff going away. The expected contribution at each line is the most paid for the benchmark plan; the credit is the plan’s price minus it.
How close is your household to the cliff?
Coverage Decider’s calculator estimates your 2027 tax credit from your household, income and ZIP code. When income is near or over the line, it says how far away you are and how much credit is at stake. Open enrollment for 2027 runs from Nov. 1, 2026 to Jan. 15, 2027: see 2027 open enrollment dates.
For a quick read on one income, the tax credit check shows where it falls against the 400% line. For the final word on your household, HealthCare.gov or a free local navigator can check your application.