If you signed up under your state exchange, you were required to provide a copy of your tax return to the exchange from the previous year. The exchange basically uses your AGI to determine your eligibility. AGI or Adjusted Gross Income is the last line on the first page of your tax return. Any household that makes under $40,000 AGI is going to qualify for assistance paying their insurance premiums. If you estimated your income at $12,000 to the exchange then that is well below the poverty level and you qualify for Medicaid, you still choose your insurance company from the list and you choose whether you want an HMO like Kaiser where your primary care physician has to refer you to a specialist or a PPO where you choose which doctors to go to within your network (ie Insurance Company). Once again, your estimate was $12,000 and below poverty level so if you actually made $1,000 then you are below, below the poverty level. There is nothing to pay back it is free if you are $12,000 a year or $1,000 or $0 or a negative amount for the year. Poverty is poverty. You should at least update your account and upload your current tax return. You can talk to a human being by calling the toll free number they show on the state exchange website or use the "Live Chat" if your state provides it. You did not state your Gross Income and you did not say what your business was so I can't give any other advise concerning expenses or write-off concerns that might lead to an audit which would change your income also. This too would be a "life changing events" that you are required to report immediately to the exchange. Loss of job, change in income, increase in income due to an audit, or additional income are all reportable events.