OK, I am now fairly freaked out about the ACA and the insurance exchanges.

[lumberjack_jeff]

67. I assume you live in a state which didn't expand medicaid.

The ACA was written envisioning that everyone under 133% of fpl would have the option of medicaid and that everyone under 100% would be enrolled automatically.

The supreme court invalidated that part of the ACA, so states such as yours weren't required to accept the money to expand medicare, so you are only eligible for medicare through the preexisting state rules.

The ACA calculator is asking you to estimate your 2014 income. As the law exists today (and assuming that neither your state nor the federal government tweak the laws to correct this ridiculous donut hole) If your 2014 tax return that you send in in april 2015 indicates that your income is less than 100% of fpl, you are ineligible for the ACA tax credit (subsidy).

In practice you like all of us are only taking an educated guess at your 2014 income, I don't think it's implausible or indefensible to project your income will go up 10% in 2014, and if the law doesn't change, there are perfectly legal ways to assure that your income for 2014 is high enough to qualify (by exchanging lawnmowing-for-hire services with the neighbor, for instance).