My understanding is, if you qualify for the tax credits, then your share of the premiums for the benchmark silver plan would be the same regardless of the number of people covered. So if the OP's cost went from $1200 for 2 to $600 for one, they must not qualify for a subsidy?Great idea. I just tried this, and voila, the premium was about half. thanks!The price shown has always been the total price for all of the (to be) insureds, in my experience.
But why don’t you redo the application using just one person and see what the price is then? If it is half or around there—or basically anything less than $1200 a month—wouldn’t that show you that the $1200 price is the two of you?
If you qualify for tax credits you might see the opposite, where the cost doubles when you reduce the number of people covered. We have a household of two, but only one qualifies for ACA. For the plan chosen our cost would be lower if both of us were eligible for coverage. With one covered we will pay about $350 per month, but if both of us were covered the cost would be about 1/2 that. The unsubsidised premiums do double for 2 vs. 1, but the premium tax credit about triples.
This result comes from something like this, not using our exact figures:
suppose benchmark silver for 1 costs $1200 and for 2 costs $2400. Then let's say income sets your share at $500, thus a $700 PTC credit with one person covered and $1900 with two. Chosen plan premium is $1000 for 1 or $2000 for two. Thus your cost is $1000-700 = $300 for one or $2000-$1900 = $100 for two.
Statistics: Posted by jeffyscott — Tue Dec 30, 2025 7:47 am — Replies 8 — Views 650