Marketplace Income/Subsidy Questions

For background: I have insurance for myself and child through my employer. Husband (self-employed) had medicaid and it was terminated at the end of June due to the new income requirements. We are in NJ.

I have spoken to 3 different agents, but can’t seem to get a clear answer regarding what to put down for the projected 2023 income question for marketplace insurance. We are married and file jointly. I am a traditional W2 employee and he is self-employed. On our taxes, it has my income and it shows his income as a loss. So if we calculate my gross salary plus his “income” we do not qualify for any subsidy/marketplace savings. If we looked at the adjusted gross income (line 11 on our tax return) then he will qualify for hundreds of dollars in savings.

Just looking for some more insight. I know that my gross definitely needs to be taken into account but cant seem to get a straight answer on the self-emoyed income aspect. We dont have any of the 4 allowed deductions (IRA, alimony, etc).

Adding him to my employer insurance will cost nearly as much as him paying full price on his own plan so no savings there.

Just hoping to get some insight because we want to save as much as we can where we can, but don’t want to get hit with a tax penalty for seemingly falsifying any numbers (especially since each agent we have spoken with does not seem to be very confident in the amswer they are giving). If you have read this far, thank you so very much 🙂