Also called: PTC, APTC, ACA subsidy, subsidy cliff, SLCSP, benchmark plan
A credit that lowers the cost of Marketplace health insurance before Medicare. It equals the benchmark silver plan's premium minus a set percentage of your household MAGI.
The percentage rises with income measured against the Federal Poverty Level. The benchmark is the second-lowest-cost silver plan (SLCSP) available to you. ACA MAGI includes tax-exempt interest and the non-taxable part of Social Security.
Under the original ACA rules the credit disappears entirely once income passes 400% of the poverty level, a cliff. Rules in effect from 2021 through 2025 removed that cliff. Which rules apply in a given year depends on current law; RetIQ's ACA Subsidy Rules setting controls what the projection assumes.