From the premium data we can see that the second lowest silver plan (this is the plan used to determine subsidies) available on the exchange from Freelancers costs $394.58 for an individual and will cost $1,065 for a family monthly. On an annual basis, this plan would cost $12,784 before subsidies. As we stated above, if the family above earns less than $78,120 they will only be required to spend $7,421, with the government subsidizing the rest. That's a total savings of $5,363!
$78,120 - $7,421 = $70,699 of take-home income after health insurance.
What happens if the family earns $78,121 dollars? Suddenly they lose the entire amount of the savings and are actually worse off than they were before.
$78,121 - $12,784 = $65,337 of take-home income after health insurance.
Since the subsidies come in the form of tax credits, any dollar amount a household receives is essentially after taxes. Therefore to regain the $5,363 dollars in post tax dollars, the family's income would actually have to rise greater than that amount once you account for state, federal and payroll taxes. To illustrate: For a family in this income bracket, they would be responsible for 25% in federal taxes, 6.2% in FICA and 1.45% for Medicare. This family would need to earn $7,962 additional dollars or $86,083 to end up where they were before. For the self-employed because who contribute double to FICA and Medicare they would need to earn $8,983 additional dollars.