One extra dollar of income.
Up to $47,000 in lost health subsidies.
Enhanced ACA credits expired at the end of 2025. In 2026 the 400% FPL cliff is back: cross it by $1 and your premium tax credit drops to zero — no phase-out. This page shows the exact dollar size of that cliff for every state and household type. No login. No personal data. Just the table.
The cliff, ranked by state
Annual premium tax credit lost by earning $1 past 400% FPL — benchmark silver plan, state averages. Pick your household:
Every state, side by side
Annual dollars lost at the cliff. Click a column header to sort. Red = above the national average for that column.
State averages weighted by county plan selections (KFF). Your county can differ — in our spot checks against the official KFF calculator, state averages landed within ~2% of county figures.
Zoom in on your state
2027 rates will move these numbers
Insurers have proposed a second consecutive year of double-digit premium hikes for 2027 — which makes every cliff on this page bigger. Final 2027 rates land in late fall. Drop your email and you'll get exactly one message when we update the atlas (and nothing else).
Just got laid off? Start with your runway, not the cliff
Before optimizing MAGI, answer the bigger question: how long does the money last? Our free companion calculator gives you three numbers in 60 seconds — money-lasts-until age, your state's ACA cliff, and your safe annual withdrawal. Open the Runway Calculator →
Why this hits early retirees hardest
If you retired before 65, the marketplace is usually your only real option until Medicare — and premiums are age-rated: a 64-year-old pays about 3× what a 21-year-old pays for the same plan. Meanwhile your income isn't a paycheck; it's a number you partially choose each year through withdrawals. Roth conversions, capital gains, dividends and interest all land in MAGI. One oversized conversion, one surprise fund distribution in December, and a household that planned on $8,400 of premiums is suddenly paying $55,000.
The MAGI levers people actually use
Educational, not advice — each has real trade-offs. This is the checklist the FIRE forums keep re-deriving:
- Size Roth conversions against the 400% line, not just tax brackets — in 2026 the cliff is usually a far bigger marginal hit than the next bracket.
- Keep a MAGI buffer for December surprises (mutual-fund capital-gain distributions are the classic cliff-pusher).
- Spend from cash / basis first in years you need subsidy eligibility; realize gains in years you don't.
- HSA contributions reduce MAGI — and starting 2026, bronze marketplace plans qualify as HSA-eligible.
- Harvest losses to offset gains that would otherwise push you over.
- If you can't stay under, overshoot deliberately — once past 400% there's no additional cliff, so bunch income into one "off" year and defend the next year instead.
Methodology & sources
- Benchmark premiums: KFF State Health Facts, 2026 Marketplace Average Benchmark Premiums — second-lowest-cost silver for a 40-year-old, county-selection weighted.
- Applicable percentage: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 — at 300–400% FPL the benchmark costs 9.96% of income; above 400% no credit exists in 2026.
- Poverty guidelines: 2025 HHS/ASPE guidelines (used for 2026 coverage), incl. separate Alaska & Hawaii tables.
- Age rating: CMS default federal age curve; state-specific curves applied for DC, MA, NJ, UT. New York and Vermont are community-rated (no age variation) and use family-tier pricing — couple = 2.00× and family = 2.85× (NY) / 2.81× (VT) the single rate, per NY DFS standard tiers and Vermont Health Connect rate sheets.
The formula
cliff = 12 × household_benchmark_premium − 9.96% × (400% FPL income)
Household premium scales the state age-40 benchmark by each member's CMS age factor. Verified against the official KFF calculator on three test cases (TX single-40 at 399%/401%, WV couple-60 at 400%): formula matched to the dollar; state averages sat within ~2% of county-level figures.
This page is educational data journalism, not tax, legal, investment, or insurance advice. Figures are state averages for the benchmark silver plan; your county, plan and circumstances will differ. Verify your own numbers at Healthcare.gov or the KFF calculator before acting.