There’s a 2023 fix for the ACA “Family Glitch.” Since the inception of the affordable care act (ACA), if your employer offered affordable health insurance coverage for you as an employee, you were ineligible for ACA subsidies for your family members even if adding them to your employer plan was not affordable. This problem was called the “family glitch.” This rule has changed for 2023.
If you were caught in the “family glitch” in prior years, please take some time during open enrollment to revisit this. If the cost of your family coverage exceeds 9.12% of household income, you may be eligible for marketplace financial assistance. It’s possible that marketplace coverage with an advanced premium tax credit may be lower cost than carrying your dependents on your employer plan. In addition to cost of premiums, however, please also consider the benefits of the different policies. Open enrollment for marketplace plans runs from November 1st to January 15th.
Your employer is required to provide information to you about the cost of family coverage. Please ask if you don’t already have access to this information.
The Kaiser Family Foundation has published a helpful blog on this topic that goes into excellent detail. Navigating the Family Glitch Fix: Hurdles for Consumers with Employer-sponsored Coverage.