Near ACA subsidy cliff? Covered California spox suggests calling an accountant

I have noted on several occasions that health insurance shoppers near the edge of the ACA subsidy cliff should see an accountant:

The premium subsidy cliff for older exchange buyers is more serious, especially if there are two of them in a household.   To return to an example I cited previously, take a pair of 55 year-olds with a 23 year-old son or daughter. For them, the cheapest silver plan in Essex County New Jersey is $1,357 per month.  If the family income is $63,000, the monthly subsidy is $876, their monthly payment to $481.  At $79,119 (299% FPL), the subsidy has dropped modestly, to $756. At $79,121, it's -- zero.

In this case, some serious money is at stake at the cliff. But it seems to me that the likeliest reaction is not to reduce hours or income but to manipulate MAGI -- especially since the stakes are higher as you go up the income scale, and so those at the steeper cliff's edge are likely to be more sophisticated. In fact, they're likely to be self-employed -- i.e., earning a relatively decent income while lacking access to employer-sponsored insurance. And as I've noted before, the taxable income of the self-employed is notoriously malleable at the margins. Sticking another thousand or two in an individual 401k or buying yourself a new computer at Christmas may put you a few inches back from the subsidy cliff.