Updated November 20, 2014.

Although it may seem absurd, in many cases the poorest of the poor in the United States get absolutely no help from the Affordable Care Act when it comes to paying for health insurance. Through an unfortunate glitch in the law, health insurance subsidies meant to make buying and using health insurance more affordable for folks with modest incomes aren’t available for people living in poverty.

Health insurance subsidies like the premium tax credit, the cost-sharing subsidy, and the subsidy to reduce your out-of-pocket maximum are only available to people with incomes between 100% and 400% of federal poverty level.

The poorest folks, those with incomes below 100% of FPL, don’t qualify for these subsidies.

I’m Too Poor to Qualify for a Subsidy. What Do I Do?

If your income is too low to qualify for a subsidy, there is no magic wand to make this problem disappear. However, if you're able to increase your income by enough to get you just over the eligibility limit of 100% of FPL, you may then qualify for a subsidy. If your income is significantly below the cut-off limit, this may not work for you. But, if you’re just a little bit below the limit, you might be able to increase your income enough to make a difference.

How To Increase Your Income to Qualify for a Health Insurance Subsidy

The health insurance subsidy is based on your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI. Your goal with this strategy is to increase your income by enough to get your MAGI above 100% of FPL. Learn more about what types of income count toward the health insurance subsidy. .

Short of getting another job, the most likely way to eke out enough income to get you over the qualification threshold is to maximize each and every possible trickle of income available to you, and to document it as income.

If you’re close to the limit, every nickel and dime could make a difference.Think creatively about how to:

• Document little bits of income you're already making.
• Create income from things you're already doing.
• Create new sources of small amounts of income.

Talk to your tax adviser about how to correctly document these sources of income so you can prove them to the IRS if you have to. Additionally, with increased income could come increased taxes; ask your tax adviser about what to expect. If you don't have a tax adviser and don't have enough money to hire one, look for free tax help through one of these resources.

Start documenting income streams from stuff you’re already doing.

Let’s say you and your neighbor have been trading babysitting duties. You watch her kids after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays; she watches your kids all day on Saturday while you work. You can use this situation to increase your MAGI by creating a documented income stream from something you're already doing.

Make this a business transaction. Have your neighbor pay you the going hourly rate for babysitting her children. Document this income as instructed by your tax adviser.  You also pay her the going hourly rate for babysitting your kids.

At the end of the week, you both have the same amount of money you would have had without this strategy. You earned $30 from her by babysitting her kids; she earned $30 from you for babysitting her kids. However, you’ve created a trickle of income that you can document to help raise your MAGI up to the minimum needed to qualify for the subsidy. Documenting the $30 per week you earned babysitting will increase your MAGI by about $1,500 per year. That might be enough to help you qualify for the health insurance subsidy.

Create new income and document it.

Your goal with this strategy is to create new net income. Net income is the profit left over after you've subtracted the money it cost you to make the new income. Here’s an example:

You start watching the “free stuff” listings on Craigslist. You think people are giving away things that could actually be sold. When you see something nearby your home, you respond to the ad and pick up the free item.  You take it home, clean it up, and post it right back on Craigslist to sell for $25. It cost you $5 in cleaning supplies and gasoline to pick the item up and prepare it for sale.

When you sell it a week later for $25, you’ve just created $20 new net income. ($25 sales price minus $5 in cleaning supplies and gasoline leaves a net income of $20.) If you do this to the tune of $20 per week and document it  correctly, you've increased your yearly MAGI by about $1,000.

Other Resources From the About.com Network to Help You Increase Your Income

• Ways to Earn Extra Money by About.com’s Frugal Living Expert, Erin Huffstetler.
• Earn Money from Your Hobbies by About.com’s Frugal Living Expert, Erin Huffstetler.
• 10 Ways to Earn Extra Money with Hobbies by About.com’s Contests & Sweepstakes Expert, Sandra Grauschopf.
• How to Make Extra Money Working at Home By About.com’s Work-at-Home Moms Expert, Laureen Miles Brunelli.