The cheapest plan depends on how much care you use. This calculator prices every Marketplace plan in your county for a typical year, a bad year (1 in 10) and the worst case, after your 2027 subsidy.
Plans: 2026 HealthCare.gov plans until CMS publishes 2027 plans (CMS data as of 2026-08-04). Subsidy: 2027 IRS rules. Medical bills: AHRQ MEPS 2024, raised to 2027 prices. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere. This is an estimate, not a quote. Tobacco surcharges, provider networks and drug lists are not included.
Worked example: a healthy 30-year-old in Miami-Dade
A 30-year-old in excellent health earns $31,920, which is 200% of the poverty line. That income brings a subsidy of $427 a month and 87% cost-sharing reductions on silver plans. With 188 plans to choose from in the county, the cheapest of each metal level compare like this:
Plan
Premium after subsidy
Deductible
Typical year
Bad year
Worst case
Cheapest bronze
$18/mo
$9,000
$530
$5,540
$10,817
Cheapest silver (87% CSR)
$178/mo
$650
$2,210
$3,710
$5,489
Benchmark silver (87% CSR)
$180/mo
$850
$2,240
$3,730
$5,264
Cheapest gold
$127/mo
$3,000
$1,570
$3,560
$11,472
Cheapest platinum
$1,046/mo
$1,000
$12,620
$13,900
$16,552
A healthy 30-year-old uses little care in most years, so the cheapest bronze plan wins a typical year: $530 in total against $2,210 for silver. It is the cheapest option in about 8 of 10 simulated years. The picture flips in a bad year: bronze costs $5,540 against $3,710 for silver. The bronze deductible is $9,000, while cost-sharing reductions cut the silver one to $650. In the worst case bronze can cost $10,817; silver never more than $5,489. Gold is cheaper per month than silver here ($127 against $178), but its out-of-pocket maximum of $9,950 is far above silver's $3,350. The choice comes down to savings: someone who could pay $10,600 after an accident can take bronze and keep the difference; someone who could not should take silver.
Above the subsidy cliff the numbers change. A married couple, both 60, in the same county earning $100,000 (462% of the poverty line) gets no subsidy, so the cheapest bronze plan costs $25,570 a year in premiums alone and the cheapest gold plan $31,809. In a typical year bronze costs them $27,200, gold $32,200; in a bad year $36,020 against $36,020. Even in a bad year gold only breaks even: the extra premium eats up what it saves in cost sharing. If their income could drop below $86,560, the ACA subsidy calculator shows how much subsidy they would get.
How the metal levels differ
Metal levels set how much of an average enrollee's care the plan pays: about 60% for bronze, 70% for silver, 80% for gold and 90% for platinum. In practice the difference shows up in the deductible and the out-of-pocket maximum. Median values for one person across all 3,969 HealthCare.gov plans for 2026:
Plan
Who can get it
Deductible
Out-of-pocket max
Bronze
Anyone
$7,500
$10,000
Silver
Anyone
$6,000
$8,900
Silver, 73% CSR
Income 200%–250% of the poverty line
$3,000
$7,500
Silver, 87% CSR
Income 150%–200%
$700
$3,300
Silver, 94% CSR
Income up to 150%
$0
$1,750
Gold
Anyone
$2,000
$8,200
Platinum
Anyone (few counties)
$0
$5,200
Many plans charge a flat copay for primary care and generic drugs before the deductible, so a $7,500 deductible does not always mean paying full price for every visit. The calculator reads each plan's own copays and coinsurance for doctor visits, specialists, the emergency room, hospital stays and four drug tiers. A gold plan's $2,000 median deductible is what you trade the higher premium for.
How the calculator works
Premium after subsidy.Each plan's age-40 premium is scaled to every person's age, and the 2027 premium tax credit is subtracted, using the same rules as the ACA subsidy calculator. Silver plans switch to their 73%, 87% or 94% cost-sharing version if your income qualifies.
3,000 possible years of medical bills. For each person, the calculator draws yearly bills from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey: people under 65 with private insurance all year, grouped by age, self-rated health, chronic conditions and regular prescriptions. Planned surgery or a birth uses people who actually had one. Bills are split into office visits, prescriptions, emergency room, hospital and other care.
Each plan's cost sharing.Every year of bills goes through the plan's deductible, copays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum, with family deductibles where more than one person enrolls.
Three numbers per plan. Typical year (median), bad year (90th percentile) and worst case (premiums plus the out-of-pocket maximum).
What the calculator does not know
Your doctors and drugs. Networks and formularies are not modelled. A plan that leaves out your doctor or prices your medication on a high tier can cost far more than shown.
2027 plans. Until CMS publishes 2027 plan data, premiums and cost sharing are 2026 values; the page switches automatically when it does.
Very large bills. MEPS is a household survey, and household surveys tend to under-count the most expensive patients, so the bad-year figures are, if anything, too mild. Your own history is a better guide if you know you will need care.
States with their own exchange, such as California, New York and Pennsylvania, and tobacco surcharges are not covered.
Frequently asked questions
Is a bronze plan worth it?
Often, if you are healthy and have savings. Bronze plans have the lowest premiums, and because the subsidy is a fixed dollar amount, the cheapest bronze plan can cost little or nothing after it. The trade-off is the deductible: the median bronze plan on HealthCare.gov charges $7,500 before it pays for most care, and you can owe up to $10,000 in a bad year. Bronze makes sense if you could cover that from savings; it is a poor fit if one large bill would put you in debt.
When is silver better than bronze?
When your income is at or below 250% of the poverty line. Only silver plans come with cost-sharing reductions, and they are large: the median silver deductible falls from $6,000 to $700 at 150%–200% of the poverty line and to $0 below 150%, and the out-of-pocket maximum falls to about $3,300 or $1,750. You must enroll in a silver plan through the Marketplace to get them.
Why can a gold plan cost less than a silver plan?
Since late 2017 the federal government has not paid insurers for cost-sharing reductions, so in most states insurers add that cost to silver premiums only. The subsidy is set by the benchmark silver premium, so it rises with them, and the same subsidy buys more of a gold or bronze plan. In Miami-Dade County, the cheapest gold plan for a 40-year-old lists at $624 a month, against $684 for the benchmark silver plan.
What does “bad year” mean here?
The calculator draws 3,000 possible years of medical bills for each person from federal survey data on people with private insurance, runs every year through each plan's deductible, copays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket limit, and adds the premium. The typical year is the median of those years. The bad year is the 90th percentile: 1 year in 10 is that expensive or worse. The worst case is premiums plus the plan's out-of-pocket maximum, which you cannot exceed for covered in-network care.
What is the most I could pay in a year?
Your premiums plus the plan's out-of-pocket maximum. For 2026 plans the federal limit is $10,600 for one person and $21,200 for a family; for 2027 it rises to $12,000 and $24,000. Out-of-network care, services the plan does not cover and premiums do not count toward it.
Can I use an HSA with a bronze plan?
Yes. Starting in 2026, every bronze and catastrophic plan available on the Marketplace counts as a high-deductible health plan, so you can contribute to a health savings account (IRS Notice 2026-5). Contributions lower your income for the subsidy as well as your tax. The calculator does not count those tax savings, which make bronze slightly better than shown.
Who can buy a catastrophic plan?
People under 30, and people with a hardship exemption. Since the 2026 plan year, CMS grants that exemption to people who cannot get a subsidy because of their income, mainly those below 100% or above 400% of the poverty line. Catastrophic plans cover three primary care visits and preventive care before the deductible, but the premium tax credit cannot be used on them. The calculator shows them only when your household qualifies.
Does the calculator check my doctors and prescriptions?
No. Provider networks and drug lists differ from plan to plan and often matter more than a few hundred dollars of premium. Before you enroll, look up your doctors, hospital and prescriptions in each plan you are considering on HealthCare.gov.
Estimates for illustration only, based on CMS public plan data for 2026. Your actual costs depend on the care you use, your provider network and your final eligibility. Compare and enroll at HealthCare.gov or your state's marketplace. Open enrollment for 2027 runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027; enroll by December 15 for coverage starting January 1.
