The scene seems straight out of a movie: a young couple stands solemnly before the judge. They have been married for just a year and they are here – for the second time – to file for divorce.

A month ago, the same judge gave them a hard time, then said no. He still thinks there’s something fishy about their request.

And he’s right. Young people want to be together. But the only way they can afford it is to separate legally.

It’s not about love. It’s not a matter of employment or family pressure. It’s about health care.

Liana Wolk and Owen Marshall are caught in an Affordable Care Act loophole.

Health policy buffs call it the “family glitch,” and every year it keeps a estimated at 5 million people ineligible for federally subsidized health insurance, especially women and children. Last April, the Biden administration proposed a rule change that would allow people stuck in the “glitch” to qualify for the grants.

The family issue shocked Wolk and Marshall. The couple live in Portland, Maine, where Marshall is a musician. Shortly after their 2019 wedding, Wolk landed a full-time job teaching English as a second language.

She was thrilled that it came with health insurance. But when Wolk called to enroll them, he was told it would cost more than $16,000 a year in premiums. This represented at least 20% of their income.

The two decided that Wolk would sign up for an individual plan, running $1,500 a year in bonuses, and Marshall would stay on the ACA exchange.

“I was like, phew, that safety net is there. I can just come back to that,” Marshall said.

When Wolk called to re-enroll her husband in a ACA Dietthe operator said it was no longer eligible for federal assistance.

Wolk dug into the search. Then one night, three months after their wedding, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.

“Oh, my God, that’s what happens,” Wolk recalled. “We fit into that category.”

This category was the family problem.

Here’s how the escape works:

When Wolk was offered a individual plan through a job that cost less than 9.6% of their family income, which automatically disqualified her spouse from federal subsidies, regardless of the price of a family plan. Leaving Obamacare with grants to Obamacare without grants, Marshall’s bonuses went from $40 a month to over $400.

“We’re just wasting this money for no reason other than the stupid piece of paper that says we’re married,” Marshall said. “It was so frustrating, demoralizing and dehumanizing.”

Even their skeptical judge agreed and granted them a divorce.

“We got home, I immediately called healthcare.gov and reported I was divorced, and my plan dropped back down to $40. Immediately,” Marshall said.

Some of the 5 million people caught in this difficult situation have decided to do without health insurance. Others no longer have insurance but have purchased plans for their children.

Katie Keith has followed the saga of family glitches for years and has spoken with the Biden administration about resolving the issue. She is Director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

“The Obama administration’s IRS said, we think our hands are tied. Whatever offer is offered to the employee, it will extend to the whole family. We’re not going to look at the cost of family coverage at all when determining if you qualify,” Keith explained.

Politics played a role. A more generous policy would increase the price of ACA. Additionally, the administration wanted to avoid taking any action that appeared to undermine employer coverage.

If the Biden administration’s new rule is finalized, family members could get federal subsidies to buy ACA coverage if their work-based family plan costs more than about 10% of their family income.

The White House estimates up to 1 million people would benefit from cheaper coverage and 200,000 would get insurance.

Keith lists three reasons why so few people currently stuck in the glitch would benefit: It might actually be cheaper to stick with a family plan and not pay two premiums or two deductibles. Some families won’t want to deal with the hassle of having different family members on different plans. And some people may not even know it’s an option.

It is too early to know who will benefit, but several estimates suggest low-income workers; people working in agriculture, mining and service industries; and people who work for companies with fewer than 200 employees may have the most to gain.

Researchers estimate that a family of four earning $53,000 a year could save anywhere $2,300 for $4,100 in bonuses per year, in part depending on whether or not Congress extends increase in ACA grants of the American Rescue Plan Act.

Reviews highlight the price of the proposal, noting a 2020 Congressional Budget Office estimate that additional grants would cost $45 billion over 10 years and replacing private spending on health insurance with public spending.

“I think some people would like the Biden administration to go even further and allow the employee to come into the market with his family,” Keith said. “At the same time, I think this is the most important thing the Biden administration can do on its own to expand affordable coverage.”

Latest comments on the proposed rule are due June 6. If the Biden administration finalizes the rule change, it will go into effect for plan year 2023.

As for Liana Wolk and Owen Marshall, they are still divorced, but things are going well. They are expecting their first child in July.

They are happy that there are efforts to fix the problem so other people don’t have to do what they did. Wolk said they might remarry one day. Or maybe they won’t.

Dan Gorenstein is the founder and editor of the health policy podcast, Compromiseand Ryan Levi is a reporter/producer on the show, which aired a version of this story May 19.

Public media on side effects is a public health information initiative based at WFYI.

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