Retiring Before 65? Health Insurance Could Be Your Biggest Obstacle

Georgia Access premiums are climbing again for 2027. Here is what a 62-year-old in metro Atlanta should know, and why your income, not just your age, will set the bill.

By Next30ATL

You are 62. The mortgage is manageable. Your retirement accounts look healthy. Social Security is available if you decide you need it. Maybe you really can retire.

Then comes the question that can upend the whole calculation: how will you pay for health insurance until Medicare starts at 65? Many Georgians considering early retirement look to Georgia Access, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace. But those policies come with hefty price tags. How much you pay depends on a few things most retirement calculators ignore: which plan you pick, how much income you report, and exactly when you sign up.

The short version

• Full price is steep. Our illustrative estimates put unsubsidized coverage for a single 62-year-old at roughly $18,000 to $24,000 a year, and for a couple at roughly $36,000 to $48,000.

• Some people don't pay full price. Marketplace tax credits can cut premiums sharply, but only if your household income stays at or below 400% of the federal poverty level. One dollar over that line and the credit disappears.

• Retirement withdrawals can cost you the credit. Traditional IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, investment gains and Social Security all count toward the income test.

• Mistakes are now more expensive. Under federal law that took effect with tax year 2026, you may have to repay all of an excess credit, not just a capped amount. For example, if you receive $10,000 in advance subsidies but ultimately qualify for only $7,000, you must repay $3,000.

  
  

Georgia Premiums are Going Up

According to an October 16 report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia has finalized 2027 premium increases of 11% to 29% for insurers on Georgia Access. The statewide average premium is expected to reach nearly $932 a month before financial assistance. The AJC reported that is roughly 51% higher than in 2025, when the average was $619.

That average covers all ages and plan types. People in their early 60s pay substantially more, because federal rules let insurers charge older adults up to three times what they charge a 21-year-old.

The insurer lineup is also changing. Cigna is leaving the Georgia marketplace for 2027, and at least one new carrier is entering. If your plan or insurer is changing, check whether your doctors are still in network before you re-enroll.

What full price could look like at 62

The table below shows illustrative, unsubsidized monthly premiums for a 62-year-old. We estimated them by applying the federal age-rating formula to statewide average premiums. These are not actual quotes, they are not specific to any ZIP code, and real prices will vary by insurer, plan and county. To see real prices, use the window-shopping tool on Georgia Access.

Plan

Plan	Single, monthly	Couple (both 62), monthly
Bronze	about $1,495	about $2,990
Silver	about $1,830	about $3,660
Gold	about $1,985	about $3,970

Over a year, that's about $17,940 for a single person on Bronze and about $35,880 for a couple. Gold would run nearly $24,000 for one person and almost $48,000 for a couple.

These are premiums only. Deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance come on top.

A caution: these are the prices people pay without a tax credit. Healthinsurance.org reports that roughly nine in ten Georgia marketplace enrollees received premium tax credits in 2026. Whether you are in that group depends largely on your retirement income.

Your income sets the real price

The enhanced federal subsidies that began during the pandemic expired at the end of 2025. Under the current rules, premium tax credits generally end once your household income passes 400% of the federal poverty level. For 2027 coverage, that is $63,840 for a single person and $86,560 for a married couple.

Here are a few terms to understand as you search for a policy:

• Benchmark plan: the second-lowest-cost Silver plan in your area. Your tax credit is calculated from its price, but you can apply the credit to any metal tier.

• MAGI (modified adjusted gross income): the income figure the marketplace uses. It is broader than your taxable income.

• Expected contribution: the share of your income you are required to pay toward the benchmark plan. For 2027, it tops out at 10.22% of income for households between 300% and 400% of the poverty level.

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Here is how that plays out, assuming everyone meets all eligibility requirements and has a full year of marketplace coverage:

Household income	Expected cost of benchmark Silver	What happens
Single, $50,000	about $5,110 a year (about $426 a month)	Credit covers the rest of the benchmark premium
Single, $63,840	about $6,524 a year (about $544 a month)	Last dollar of income that qualifies for a credit
Single, $64,000	Full price, roughly $21,960 a year if the benchmark resembles our Silver illustration	Credit is gone
Couple, $80,000	about $8,176 a year (about $681 a month) for both spouses	Credit covers the rest
Couple, $86,560	about $8,846 a year (about $737 a month)	Last dollar that qualifies
Couple, $100,000	Full price, roughly $43,920 a year on our Silver illustration	Credit is gone

The contribution amounts come from the federal formula, and the full-price rows rely on our illustrative Silver premiums, so treat them as order-of-magnitude comparisons. The point is the cliff. Crossing the line by a single dollar can cost a retiree well over $15,000 a year, and a couple much more.

Two other income thresholds

• Below the poverty level, there is no credit. For 2027 coverage, that is under $15,960 for a single person and $21,640 for a couple. Georgia has not expanded Medicaid, so a retiree who engineers very low income can land in a coverage gap. Planning to keep income low is not a free lunch.

• Extra help with deductibles ends at 250% of the poverty level. Eligible lower-income buyers who choose a Silver plan can receive cost-sharing reductions that lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. For 2027 coverage, the cutoff is about $39,900 for a single person and $54,100 for a couple. Every income example above is higher, so those households would not qualify.

Bronze, Silver or Gold?

Metal tiers describe how costs are split between you and the insurer across a typical population. Bronze plans are designed to cover about 60% of costs, Silver about 70% and Gold about 80%. Those are averages, not promises about your own bills.

Bronze plans have the lowest premiums and the highest out-of-pocket costs. Gold plans have higher premiums and lower deductibles. Silver sits between them.

A few points that surprise Access Georgia shoppers:

• Gold can cost less than Silver after subsidies. Because tax credits are tied to the benchmark Silver plan, the price difference between tiers can shrink or even reverse for people who qualify. Compare plans after the credit is applied, not before.

• A healthy retiree with solid savings may be comfortable with Bronze. Someone managing diabetes, heart disease or another chronic condition may spend less over the full year on Gold despite the higher premium.

• Bronze plans may now pair with a Health Savings Account. Under federal changes that took effect in 2026, Bronze and catastrophic marketplace plans can be treated as HSA-eligible. HSA contributions can lower your reported income, and people 55 and older can make catch-up contributions, but you must stop contributing once you enroll in Medicare.

Compare two numbers: a normal year and a bad year

Suppose you are 63 and need a knee replacement. Or a heart problem sends you to the hospital. Your premium is only the beginning.

For 2027, the federal cap on in-network out-of-pocket costs is $12,000 for an individual and $24,000 for family coverage. Some plans set lower limits, and certain plan types, such as catastrophic plans, may have higher ones. Your deductible counts toward the cap. Premiums, services your plan doesn't cover and most out-of-network costs generally do not.

In a family plan, no one person can be required to pay more than the individual limit. For a couple, that means each spouse's costs stop at $12,000, and the couple's combined total stops at $24,000.

When you shop, compare:

• Normal-year cost: twelve months of premiums plus your expected doctor visits and prescriptions.

• Bad-year exposure: twelve months of premiums plus the plan's out-of-pocket maximum.

  
  

Using our illustrative full-price Bronze figures, bad-year exposure could approach $ 30,000 for a single person ($ 17,940 in premiums plus $12,000) and roughly $ 60,000 for a couple ($ 35,880 plus $24,000). Gold plans usually have lower maximums.

Before choosing, read each plan's Summary of Benefits and Coverage. It lays out deductibles, copays, coinsurance and out-of-pocket limits more clearly than the premium alone.

The retirement-income trap

The Georgia Access marketplace considers more than your paycheck when deciding on possible subsidies. Your MAGI can include pension payments, taxable interest, dividends and capital gains, traditional IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, Roth conversions, and both taxable and nontaxable Social Security benefits.

"The income portion of the puzzle drives the tax credits clients can receive," says Chris Sheridan, who helps people navigate the Medicare maze. "A lot of people don't realize this and underestimate their income, which can lead to them having to pay back a subsidy at tax time."

Consider a couple who plan to live on $75,000 a year, comfortably under the $86,560 cutoff. Then they withdraw another $30,000 from a traditional IRA to renovate the kitchen. At $105,000, they are over the line and could lose thousands of dollars in assistance.

A few things to know:

• Qualified Roth IRA withdrawals generally do not count as income. A Roth conversion does count, so the timing of conversions matters.

• Early retirement year income counts too. If you retire in July after earning substantial wages in the first half of the year, those wages generally count toward that year's marketplace income.

• Contributions to a Health Savings Account may reduce your reported income. Ask a tax professional how that fits your situation.

• Claiming Social Security early adds income and permanently reduces your monthly benefit. The tradeoff deserves a real look, not a default.

• Overestimating income is safer than underestimating it. If you take advance credits during the year and your income comes in higher than you reported, you may owe the excess back at tax time, potentially in full.

Because these decisions interact, anyone retiring before 65 should coordinate health insurance choices with retirement withdrawals and tax planning before leaving work, not after.

Four alternatives to buying your own policy

Before you enroll in Georgia Access, consider the other ways to stay covered.

1. Join your spouse's employer plan. If your spouse is still working, this may be the simplest option. Losing job-based coverage generally qualifies you for a special enrollment period on a spouse's plan, but those windows are often only 30 days, shorter than the marketplace's 60. Check the cost, since some employers subsidize employees far more than spouses. Check whether your doctors and hospitals are in network.

2. Ask about employer retiree coverage. Some employers, especially large ones and public employers, offer retiree health benefits that bridge the gap to Medicare. Ask HR before your last day, because the rules, cost and eligibility requirements vary widely.

3. Continue your old plan through COBRA. COBRA lets many workers keep their employer coverage temporarily, with the same doctors and benefits. The tradeoff is price: you generally pay the full premium plus an administrative fee of up to 2%. Federal COBRA typically lasts 18 months, so if you retire at 62 it likely will not reach Medicare. Voluntarily dropping COBRA generally does not open a special enrollment period on Georgia Access, so don't plan to switch mid-stream.

4. Keep working, or work somewhere else. A part-time or less demanding job with affordable benefits may be worth considering, but confirm that part-time employees are eligible before you decide.

One caution on shortcuts: short-term plans and health-care sharing ministries are not ACA-compliant coverage. They can exclude pre-existing conditions, cap benefits or refuse claims, and they do not qualify for tax credits.

Check your doctors and prescriptions

A health plan is not much use if it does not include the doctors you want. For Atlanta-area residents, that may mean confirming participation for Emory, Northside, Piedmont or Wellstar.

Do not assume a hospital that accepts one of an insurer's plans accepts them all. Ask about the exact plan name and network. Then check each medication against the plan's formulary: its cost tier, whether it needs prior authorization, and which pharmacies it prefers. A cheap plan can become expensive fast if you need specialists or costly drugs.

Dates that matter

• Open enrollment for 2027 coverage on Georgia Access runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027. Choose a plan by December 15 for coverage starting January 1. Plans chosen December 16 through January 15 generally start February 1.

  
  

• If you lose employer coverage at another time of year, you usually have a 60-day special enrollment period. You can generally start the process up to 60 days before coverage ends, so you can avoid a gap by enrolling before your last day.

  
  

Don't stumble into Medicare

Medicare generally begins at 65, but enrollment is not automatic for everyone. Your initial enrollment period lasts seven months: the three months before the month you turn 65, your birthday month, and the three months after. Special rules apply if you are still covered through current employment.

Three things to watch:

• COBRA does not let you delay Medicare Part B. If you are on COBRA when you become eligible for Medicare, don't assume you can postpone Part B without gaps or penalties.

• Late enrollment can bring permanent penalties. Missing your Part B window can increase your premium for as long as you have coverage.

• Your marketplace credit ends when you become eligible for premium-free Medicare Part A. Plan the handoff months ahead so you are never uncovered.

  
  

A planning timeline:

• Six to twelve months before retiring: Estimate your retirement-year MAGI. Ask HR about retiree coverage and COBRA costs. Price plans on Georgia Access and check doctors and drugs.

• Two to three months before your last day: Decide on your coverage path, and coordinate planned IRA withdrawals or Roth conversions with a tax professional.

• Before coverage ends: Enroll within the 60-day window so coverage starts the day after your old plan ends.

• Each fall: Re-shop every plan year. Premiums, networks and insurers change.

• Three months before 65: Begin Medicare enrollment.

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The bottom line

Retiring at 62 can work, but health insurance is a major line item, and the price is as much about your reported income as your age. Know your numbers: the full-price premiums, the cliff at 400% of the poverty level, and the bad-year exposure of the plan you choose. Then build your retirement withdrawals around them.

Helpful resources

• Georgia Access: georgiaaccess.gov. Compare plans, premiums and tax-credit eligibility.

• Georgia Access contact center: 1-888-687-1503 (TTY 711).

• Medicare: medicare.gov. Enrollment information and coverage options.

• U.S. Department of Labor: COBRA continuation-of-coverage information.

Next30ATL reporting note: The illustrative Bronze, Silver and Gold figures are estimates derived from statewide age-adjusted premiums. They are not verified insurance quotes for any Atlanta ZIP code. Subsidy examples assume qualifying income, full-year eligibility and the federal formula. Actual rates, deductibles, plan availability and provider participation must be confirmed before enrolling. This article is general information, not tax, legal or insurance advice.