@Even Steven It'll still impact whether or not you can get the Cost Sharing Reduction
https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/cost-sharing-reduction/
Thanks. So this is a second tax cliff related to the ACA up to 250% poverty level (~65K for family of 4), which will remain? After browsing a few pages on CSR, I'm not clear on how valuable CSR is. Does it make a significant difference in typical costs, or maybe a big deal at the higher end of health expenses?
I mean, healthcare.gov you can run examples yourself, but ran in my zipcode for my wife and I. Screen captures attached of the exact same silver-plan.
At $44K income, there are no additional cost savings - the deductible is $10,900, copays are $35 for drugs, $20 for Doctor, 35% co-insurance for ER or specialist.
At $42K income, the CSR reductions have just kicked in a little - the deductible is $5,990, so almost $4k lower there.
At $24K income then we're getting to maxed out on the CSR savings - $0 deductible, $3 copays. Still $25% coinsurance but the OOP Max is only $3,050.
So depending on medical situation, that can get to be a pretty big deal even at top of range - actually this is a good example of that. $2K of income difference, for someone who routinely hits the deductible, makes a $4K difference just in deductible.
If you're able to get income low enough, savings in addition to the premium tax credit are huge. At that $24K level, you're actually getting a better deal on deductibles and copays and such than any of the Gold Plans, and arguably the Platinum plans as well (platinum, which is much more expensive on premiums, tends to have lower ER and specialist copays, but higher drug and regular doctor copays).