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Connecticut · licensed here · 2026 plan year

What Are the Access Health CT Income Limits for 2026? Connecticut's HUSKY, Covered CT, and Tax Credit Lines by Family Size

Written and reviewed by Dick Tracy, licensed health insurance broker (NPN 20414610) · Published September 18, 2026

🔍 Find my family's lines 📊 The full 2026 table 🧮 Estimate my tax credit in dollars

For 2026 coverage, Access Health CT gives a federal premium tax credit to households up to 400% of the poverty level: $62,600 for one person and $128,600 for a family of four. One dollar over and the federal credit is zero, because the enhanced credits expired December 31, 2025. Connecticut put state money in for one year: households from just over 400% up to 500% of poverty ($78,250 for one, $160,750 for four) can get half of the lost federal help replaced, and households from 100% to 200% get all of it replaced. Adults under 138% of poverty ($22,025 single, $45,540 for four) go to HUSKY Health, the state's Medicaid program. Adults up to 175% ($27,387 single) can get a Silver plan with no premium through Covered Connecticut, and children are covered by HUSKY up to 323% of poverty ($106,590 for a family of four). Every line for households of one to eight is below, then the doors if you are over the top one. I educate, you decide.

The full Connecticut income chart for 2026

Two programs, two poverty tables. The tax-credit range, Covered Connecticut, and the state's premium assistance for 2026 coverage run on the 2025 poverty guidelines ($15,650 for one person plus $5,500 each), because the federal rule sets a plan year's eligibility with the prior year's table. HUSKY Health runs on the 2026 guidelines ($15,960 plus $5,680), on a chart that took effect March 1, 2026. The federal credit technically starts at 100% of poverty, but a Connecticut adult under 138% is sent to HUSKY instead, so in practice the credit starts at that line. Connecticut's state help from 400% to 500% tops out at $78,250 for one person, $105,750 for two, $133,250 for three, $160,750 for four, and $188,250 for five.

Source: Connecticut Department of Social Services, HUSKY Health annual income chart effective March 1, 2026, and the DSS Covered Connecticut page. HUSKY limits read "under" the figure shown. The state's chart stops at a family of six; the rows for seven and eight are the same percentages of the 2026 poverty guideline, rounded the way the state rounds. The chart also lists HUSKY A for pregnant women at 263% of poverty ($56,913 for a household of two, $71,852 for three, $86,790 for four, with the unborn child counted) and splits HUSKY B into two bands: up to 254% with no premium ($83,820 for four), and up to 323% with a monthly premium. Covered Connecticut's limits are exact to the half dollar on the state's page ($27,387.50 for one); I show whole dollars. For 2027 coverage the tax credit table moves to the 2026 guidelines: $63,840 for one and $132,000 for four at the cliff.

Connecticut's state help for 2026: real, but one year and not automatic

When the enhanced federal credits expired, Connecticut set up temporary premium assistance for 2026. It works in two bands. Households from 100% to 200% of poverty get 100% of the expired enhanced credit replaced by the state. Households from just over 400% up to 500% get 50% of it replaced, which for a single person means income from $62,600.01 to $78,250, and for a family of four, $128,600.01 to $160,750. In between, from 200% to 400%, there is no state money; those households still get the regular federal credit, just the smaller pre-2021 version of it. Three cautions. First, Access Health CT describes it as in place for one year, so do not build a 2027 budget around it. Second, it is not automatic: you have to call Access Health CT at 1-855-805-4325 to have it applied, and it applies to Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans. Third, the special enrollment window the state opened for it closed June 30, 2026. Connecticut has no reinsurance program, so there is no across-the-board discount baked into the rates the way there is in New Jersey or Maryland.

Connecticut also runs Covered Connecticut, which is the closest thing in my states to free private insurance. Adults 19 to 64 with income up to and including 175% of poverty ($27,387.50 for one person, $56,262.50 for four) who enroll in a Silver plan through Access Health CT, and use all of the federal help they qualify for, pay no premium, and the state covers the cost sharing too, along with dental and non-emergency medical rides. The Department of Social Services reports 51,629 people enrolled in 2026, up from 41,165.

Sources: Access Health CT, 2026 premium assistance; DSS, Covered Connecticut program.

What Access Health CT plans cost in 2026

Sources: KFF, 2026 benchmark premiums; KFF, marketplace enrollment; Access Health CT, 2026 enrollment release.

Connecticut's benchmark is $870 a month for a 40-year-old, among the highest in the country and $245 above the national average, so the credit is worth more here and losing it hurts more. The Insurance Department approved an average individual-market increase of 16.8% for 2026, against the 23.3% the carriers asked for, and said the cuts saved policyholders about $125 million. By carrier: Anthem 13.6%, ConnectiCare Benefits 20.6%, and ConnectiCare Insurance Company 20.3%. Open enrollment set a record at 157,246, up 4%, helped by the state money. Then the bills arrived: CT Mirror reported that more than 22,000 people lost coverage for nonpayment in the first half of 2026. For 2027 the department approved an average increase of 11.3% on September 11, 2026, so this is not a one-year story.

Sources: Connecticut Insurance Department, September 10, 2025; CT Mirror, July 10, 2026; CT Mirror, September 14, 2026.

HUSKY Health: adults, children, and the two HUSKY B bands

HUSKY Health is Connecticut's Medicaid and children's health program. HUSKY D covers adults 19 to 64 without dependent children, and HUSKY A covers parents and caretakers, both under 138% of poverty: $22,025 for one person and $45,540 for four. Children are in HUSKY A, at no cost, under 201% of poverty ($66,330 for a family of four). Above that, uninsured children under 19 go to HUSKY B, which has two bands on the current chart: up to 254% of poverty ($83,820 for four) there is no premium and some copays, and from there up to 323% ($106,590 for four) the premium is $30 a month for one child and $50 for more than one. The practical point for a family on Access Health CT: in a household of four earning $100,000, the children belong in HUSKY B for $50 a month and only the adults go on the marketplace plan, which changes the math on the whole family's coverage.

Sources: DSS, HUSKY Health annual income chart effective March 1, 2026; DSS, HUSKY B.

HUSKY changes coming October 2026 and January 1, 2027

The federal law passed in 2025 changes Medicaid for adults who qualify on income alone, which in Connecticut means HUSKY D. Starting January 1, 2027, those adults must work or do community engagement at least 80 hours a month, with exemptions that include pregnancy, caregivers of young children, and people who are medically frail, and their renewals move to every six months instead of once a year. Earlier, on October 1, 2026, Medicaid eligibility narrows for some noncitizens. The Department of Social Services keeps a running page on how each piece will work in Connecticut. If you are near the $22,025 line as a single person, the practical effect is that income that drifts above it, or a missed six-month renewal, can put you on Access Health CT mid-year, where Covered Connecticut may pick you up at no premium if you are under 175%. Losing HUSKY is a qualifying event, so report the change the month it happens.

Source: DSS, federal updates (H.R. 1).

Open enrollment and special enrollment on Access Health CT

Open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs October 23, 2026 through January 15, 2027, which opens earlier than most states. Enroll by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1; enroll from December 16 through January 15 and coverage starts February 1. Outside the window you need a qualifying event, generally reported within 60 days. Losing HUSKY qualifies any time of year, and HUSKY and Covered Connecticut take applications year-round. Dropping a plan for nonpayment does not qualify. The dates for every state I work in are on my 2027 dates page.

Sources: Access Health CT, open enrollment dates; Access Health CT, special enrollment periods.

Over the line in Connecticut? It works a lot like New York

Connecticut is built like New York, where I sit. Every individual plan is guaranteed issue at the same price regardless of health, and there is no medically underwritten private plan to price a healthy household on its own health. Short-term plans are limited to six months with no renewal, and in practice no carrier sells them here. So a family of four over $160,750, or over $128,600 once the one-year state help ends, is looking at the sticker price in one of the most expensive markets in the country: $870 a month for one 40-year-old on the benchmark silver. The door I open first for a healthy owner in that spot is a pre-established ERISA group plan: group rates, no payroll or employees required, and a true national PPO network of the PHCS and MultiPlan type, which matters if your doctors are in New York City or Boston. The second door is the same Access Health CT plans bought on or off the exchange, which is the right call for anyone with a health condition. The third is the supplemental layer for the deductible. I walk through all three on the Connecticut self-employed guide. Connecticut's median household income is $96,049, so a lot of ordinary two-earner families are standing close to the $128,600 line. If you are within $10,000 of it, a Solo 401(k) or SEP contribution, run with your tax professional, is the first lever to pull.

Sources: healthinsurance.org, Connecticut short-term rules; Census Bureau, Household Income in States and Metropolitan Areas: 2024.

Common questions about Access Health CT income limits