Deconstructing Covered California 2026 Income Table

Kevin Knauss

8 months ago

Deconstructing the Covered California income table.

For 2026, Covered California has added more columns to their income table. The added information is to support the new California subsidy and Medi-Cal eligibility. The added information also makes the chart more complicated to understand. I try to deconstruct the table to make sense of it.

Subsidy income table based federal poverty levels.

New California Health Insurance Subsidy

New for 2026 is an orange band on top of the table. This is the income range that California will provide additional subsidy to help lower health insurance premiums for low income families and individuals. The extra subsidy will be provided to incomes up to 165 percent of the federal poverty level. There is a new 165% column indicating the maximum annual income that the subsidy is eligible for.

New California subsidy 165% column and Medi-Cal monthly income column.

There are also new columns labeled DHCS mo. This stands for Department of Health Care Services, monthly. The numbers in the column represent the monthly dollar amount for Medi-Cal eligibility. For example, for a single adult, if their monthly income is at or below $1,801, they are eligible for MAGI Medi-Cal.

For adult consumers whose income is below 165%, but over 138% FPL, the extra California subsidy will be reflected on their enrollment.

Enrollment showing the extra California subsidy for incomes under 165% FPL.

Monthly Medi-Cal Income Columns

In this example, the total subsidy is $795. That represents $732 of federal Premium Tax Credit and $62 from California. In this situation, if the consumer had selected the second lowest cost Silver plan, or one less expensive than the second lowest cost Silver, the monthly premium would be $0. Because the consumer selected the more expensive Blue Shield Silver PPO, the subsidy does not cover the entire monthly premium, leaving a monthly balance of $353.

New Medi-Cal monthly columns quickly show the monthly amount by household size for Covered California subsidies or Medi-Cal eligibility.

Covered California has added the monthly income amounts for the Medi-Cal programs. This is just the annual amount divided by 12. For example, a household of four, will need a monthly income greater than $3,699 (138% FPL column) for the adults to qualify for a subsidy through Covered California. If there are children in the household, the income would need to be greater than $7,129 a month (266% FPL) for the children to qualify for a Covered California subsidy.

No Subsidy Over 400% FPL

No subsidies over 400% FPL unless Congress extends the enhanced subsidies.

Not prominently indicated, but as of October 15, 2025, there will be no subsidies for household incomes greater than 400 percent of the federal poverty level. For single adult, if they estimate their income at $60,000, they will receive a subsidy. However, if when the individual does their federal tax return and their final income is $62,601 ($1 over the 400% FPL limit), they will have to repay ALL the Premium Tax Credit subsidy they received during the year.