Check whether a planned ICHRA contribution meets the ACA's 2026 affordability requirement (9.96%) under the FPL, rate of pay, or W-2 safe harbor. No email required.
1. Choose a safe harbor method
The FPL safe harbor uses a fixed monthly threshold — no wage or income data needed. For calendar-year plans beginning in the first half of 2026 (mainland U.S.), the threshold is fixed automatically below.
2. Enter your plan numbers
Get this from a broker quote or Healthcare.gov for the employee's age and county — it varies too much by location and age for us to estimate here.
Uses the IRS's 2026 affordability percentage (9.96%, Rev. Proc. 2025-25) and the 2025 mainland U.S. federal poverty line ($15,650) for the FPL safe harbor. This is a planning estimate, not a compliance determination — confirm final numbers with a licensed broker.
9.96% of the federal poverty line, divided by 12. Fixed regardless of the employee's actual income — currently $129.90/month for mainland U.S. calendar-year plans starting in the first half of 2026.
9.96% of monthly wages — hourly rate × 130 hours for hourly employees, or monthly salary directly for salaried employees.
9.96% of the employee's Box 1 W-2 wages for the year, divided by 12. Requires knowing actual annual wages, calculated after the fact or estimated in advance.
The FPL safe harbor is generally simplest since it requires no wage data and results in automatic compliance if you clear it — most employers check it first. If your lowest-cost plan premium is too high to clear the FPL threshold, the rate of pay or W-2 methods often allow a lower required ICHRA contribution since they're based on the employee's actual (often higher than poverty-line) earnings.
You can use different safe harbors for different employees or classes, as long as it's applied on a reasonable and consistent basis — you can't cherry-pick a different method for each person to game the result.
You'll need this from a broker quote or by checking available plans on the marketplace for the employee's ZIP code and age — it's the one piece of this calculation that depends on real-time marketplace data we can't estimate accurately here.