Federalnpoverty limit
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Executive summary
The "federal poverty limit" (more commonly called the Federal Poverty Level, FPL) is an annually updated HHS income threshold used to determine eligibility for many federal and state benefit programs, and the most-cited recent baseline for policy in 2025–2026 is $15,650 for a single person in the contiguous United States (48 states + D.C.) [1] [2]; program eligibility commonly references percentages of that baseline (e.g., 100%, 138%, 400%) [3].
1. What the federal poverty limit is and who issues it
The FPL is an administrative simplification of Census Bureau poverty thresholds issued each year by the Department of Health and Human Services via ASPE; the guidelines are intended for program eligibility and are updated annually and published in the Federal Register [4] [5].
2. The headline numbers currently in circulation
For policy discussions covering 2026, commentators are using the 2025 FPL of $15,650 for a single person in the contiguous U.S. as the baseline for affordability safe-harbor calculations in 2026 and for Marketplace subsidy indexing [1] [2]; Alaska and Hawaii have higher baseline FPL figures reflecting cost-of-living differences [2].
3. How the FPL is applied across programs
Federal and state programs use percentages of the FPL to set eligibility: Medicaid expansion commonly uses about 138% of FPL, Marketplace premium tax credits are framed around 100–400% of FPL, and other benefits (e.g., CHIP, LIHEAP) use various percentage cutoffs or multipliers set by statute or program rules [3] [6] [7].
4. Household size adjustments and reporting inconsistencies
The guideline is scaled by household size and programs often specify how to add amounts for households larger than eight, but numbers cited in public materials vary by context: HHS/ASPE tables define the baseline increments, while program-specific documents and clearinghouses show different "add per person" figures depending on whether they’re calculating 100% FPL, 110% or 150% thresholds or applying state-specific sliding scales—examples in recent reporting show additional-person increments like $5,380, $5,140, $4,994 and even $6,810 tied to different program percentage uses [8] [9] [7]. These differences reflect divergent program formulas rather than a contradiction in the underlying HHS tables, and readers should check the specific program rule (e.g., LIHEAP or an ACA affordability table) to know which increment applies [7] [8].
5. Technical uses that affect employers and subsidies
The FPL also functions in more technical regulatory roles: employers may use the federal poverty-line affordability safe harbor when assessing whether employer coverage is "affordable" under the ACA—guidance has tied the 2025 single-person FPL ($15,650) to a 2026 monthly employee contribution threshold (often cited as $129.89) for plan-year affordability determinations [1]. Meanwhile, Marketplace subsidy calculations use prior-year FPL numbers to determine income-based premium tax credit eligibility for the coming coverage year [10] [11].
6. The consequences and the policy debate
Because the FPL is indexed yearly and used across programs, modest adjustments or statutory changes (for example, temporary subsidy enhancements under past laws) can materially expand or restrict access to health coverage and benefit programs; advocates warn that one-year lags and state-by-state policy choices (like Medicaid nonexpansion in some states) produce real gaps in coverage around the 100–138% FPL band, while policymakers emphasize the need for consistent administrative rules so agencies and employers can apply thresholds predictably [10] [3] [4]. Where specific program arithmetic matters—household add-ons, which year's FPL is used, and whether a state expanded Medicaid—consult the program's rule table or the ASPE published guidelines for the exact number in play [5] [4].