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California, where the Covered California state ACA marketplace is the largest in the country,
a standard silver plan costs roughly $580 per month per person,
but a bronze plan can be had for a premium of about $290.
(The rates can vary by ZIP Code and age.)
But co-pays are higher for bronze plans
— $60 for primary care visits versus $50 for silver plan visits. Deductibles also are higher
— $5,800 per year per person for bronze plans versus $5,200 for silver plans.

The original ACA subsidies capped premiums on a sliding scale, ranging from 2.07% of income for those earning 138% of the federal poverty line to 9.83% of income for those at 400% of the poverty line.
The ACA’s drafters knew from the outset that these subsidies were inadequate.
Especially troubling was the sharp cutoff of any subsidies for families earning even a dime above 400% of the poverty level
— the so-called subsidy cliff.
But that was a budgetary compromise, and the expectation was that Congress would get around to fixing the cheeseparing subsidy at a later date.

The pandemic forced Congress to act. In the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act,
Congress refashioned the subsidies so families with income up to 150% of the poverty level could find decent Obamacare plans for free.
The act eliminated the subsidy cliff by capping premiums for families at 400% or more of the poverty line at 8.5% of applicable income.
The benefits were seen almost immediately.
ACA health plan enrollments roughly doubled to 19.3 million from 9.7 million in the three years after the subsidies were increased.
But Congress failed to extend the enhanced subsidies past their expiration last Dec. 31.

California backstopped the federal subsidies for the lowest-income enrollees
— mostly those for households earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level,
or $23,940 for individuals and $49,500 for a family of four.
That premium support, which was funded out of a $190-million state reserve fund, averaged about $45 per month, Covered California said.
The state subsidies mitigated the damage from the expiration of the federal assistance,
says Charles Gaba, the indefatigable private analyst of Obamacare financials.
Even so, he calculated,
“Covered CA enrollees are paying 36% higher net premiums on average this year,
along with a 17% average increase in out of pocket costs.”
Put it together, and California enrollees are paying, on average, about $1,100 more in healthcare costs.