No Longer Qualify For State Healthcare (NJ)

Good afternoon!

My girlfriend and I have been on state insurance for years, she got her letter in the mail today saying she no longer qualifies as she makes too much (around $2800/mo before tax, I think). She works full time so I’m having her look into the jobs plan as it’s time to reup anyways.

I sent in my reup paperwork last month and am waiting on my (probably rejection) letter. I make ~$2000/mo, usually. But I work part time and as such do not qualify for benefits through the job (ho hum). Since I’m most likely also getting dropped, I’ve spent the last day or two looking into marketplace insurance and seeing that the cost is in the realm of ~$400/mo for a silver plan. That seems insanely high, and I’d rather be without instance than spend that much tbh.

However I noticed when i did the eligibility calculator that I qualify for PTC, and all of the plans on the nj.gov website are saying that it’ll be between $0-$5/month “after savings”. I kind of understand PTC, I think. My question is though, if I do sign up for a plan and use the PTC, will I still have to pay the full $400/mo and just get the money back during tax season? Or is it more like a monthly allowance that they’ll pay “x” amount of the $400 per month and I pay the remainder? That seems too good to be true, to be quite honest, and I’m just wondering am I missing something?

Any insight would be great!