The family glitch has been a highly discussed shortfall of the Affordable Care Act. In the quest to provide affordable health coverage for all families, this glitch has unfortunately made that goal nearly impossible for millions of families across the country.

Although the Affordable Care Act is primarily used by those who do not have the option to get health insurance through their employer, there are many who are offered healthcare from their job, but it just is not affordable. Part of the Affordable Care Act gives those who cannot receive "affordable" healthcare through their employer the opportunity to get their healthcare through their state marketplace and utilize the federal subsidies to lower their monthly premiums.

This was determined to be 9.61% of your household income in 2022. That means that if the offered health coverage cost more than that, you were still eligible to utilize subsidies on marketplace coverage.  Sounds great, right?

The glitch comes into play when you try and add your spouse and/or children onto your health plan. Even though the employer health coverage premium will undoubtedly increase if you do, the affordability is still calculated based on just yourself. So even if it would cost 20% of your household income to sign up your entire family, if it cost less than 9.61% to cover yourself then you and your family would be unable to use the subsidies on the marketplace.