1099 contractor health insurance by state: 2026 prices

Browse Health Plans team · Reviewed by a licensed health insurance advisor · Updated October 22, 2026

A 1099 contractor in 2026 pays the same Marketplace price as anyone else in the county, and that price for a 40-year-old is about $375 to $480 a month for the cheapest Bronze plan before any tax credit in most states that use HealthCare.gov. The number that changes everything is income. At $45,000 of modified adjusted gross income the premium tax credit brings that Bronze plan down to roughly $140 to $265 a month depending on the county, and at $62,601 the credit disappears entirely. For a healthy contractor over that line, private plans are typically quoted at $155 to $200 a month, with the health questions and exclusions that come with underwriting.

Contractors ask this question differently from employees because nobody is splitting the bill with them, their income arrives in lumps, and the figure the Marketplace cares about is not the total on their 1099 forms. This guide gives the 2026 price in every state, shows what a contractor pays at ages 27, 40 and 50 in seven large counties, works the tax credit at five common 1099 incomes, and then explains how to count your income so you do not talk yourself out of a credit you qualify for.

The short answer for a 1099 contractor

Marketplace plans price on three things: your county, your age and whether you use tobacco. They do not ask how you are paid. So the full-price figure for a contractor is the same as the figure for a salaried neighbour, and the cheapest Bronze plan for a 40-year-old in 2026 runs from about $330 in the least expensive counties of the cheapest states to about $650 in Alaska, with most states landing between $375 and $500. The silver benchmark, which the tax credit is measured against, is higher, usually $480 to $750 for the same person.

Two things are different for contractors. First, there is no employer contribution, so the figure you see is the figure you pay, which makes the tax credit worth far more to you than to an employee with a workplace plan. Second, the self-employed health insurance deduction lets you subtract the premiums you pay yourself from income, which lowers your tax bill and, in a loop we explain below, can raise your credit. The self-employed guide goes deeper on the deduction; this one is about the prices by state.

Every state for a 40-year-old contractor

The table gives the cheapest Marketplace Bronze plan and the silver benchmark for a 40-year-old at full price in every state, from the official 2026 plan file, plus the range a healthy 40-year-old is typically quoted for private plans. States that run their own marketplace show an estimate rather than a county-level figure. Click any state for county prices and the cheapest plans by name.

Marketplace columns: full monthly price for a 40-year-old before any tax credit, from the CMS plan-year 2026 file (snapshot August 4, 2026); "(est.)" marks states that run their own marketplace, where the figure is a statewide estimate from the KFF benchmark. Private columns: the starting range a healthy applicant is typically quoted, from the carrier rate tables our advisors use, after their usual adjustment; health questions apply.

What the same contractor pays at 27 and 50

Forty is the industry yardstick, but contractors cluster at both ends of the age range: the 27-year-old freelancer who just left a W-2 job and the 50-year-old consultant who has been independent for years. The federal age curve prices a 27-year-old at about 1.05 times the age-21 rate and a 50-year-old at about 1.79 times it, so the gap between them is wide. Here are seven large HealthCare.gov counties, priced for a single non-tobacco applicant from the CMS plan file (snapshot August 4, 2026), with the private range a healthy man of each age is typically quoted.

Marketplace columns are full monthly premiums for a single non-tobacco applicant before any tax credit, from the CMS QHP Landscape PY2026 Individual Medical file (snapshot August 4, 2026). The cheapest Bronze plans in these counties carry individual deductibles of $7,000 to $10,600. Private columns are the starting range a healthy man of that age is typically quoted from the carrier rate tables our advisors use, after their usual adjustment; a woman's range runs somewhat higher at 27 and slightly lower at 50. Health questions apply.

Read across and the pattern is consistent. At 27, the full Marketplace price is $286 to $448 and the private range starts near $111 everywhere we publish one, so a healthy young contractor who earns too much for a credit has a wide gap to weigh. At 50, the Marketplace Bronze is $487 to $763 and the benchmark reaches $1,052 in Davidson County, which also means the tax credit at 50 is much larger than at 27 for the same income. The credit grows with age because it is tied to the benchmark, and that is the single most useful fact for an older contractor.

The tax credit at common 1099 incomes

The premium tax credit is available to households between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level, and for 2026 the cliff at the top is back. The enhanced credits of 2021 through 2025 expired on December 31, 2025, so one dollar over the line means no credit at all. For a single contractor in the 48 contiguous states the line is $62,600 of modified adjusted gross income, and the full set of limits looks like this:

2025 HHS poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and DC, which apply to 2026 coverage (Alaska and Hawaii are higher). Source: 90 FR 5917 and IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25.

The credit is the gap between the silver benchmark in your county and the share of income the law expects you to pay, which runs from about 2% of income at the bottom of the range to 9.96% at the top. Take a 40-year-old contractor in Harris County, Texas, where the benchmark is $592 a month and the cheapest Bronze lists at $375:

Single 40-year-old, Harris County, TX. Premiums from the CMS PY2026 file (snapshot August 4, 2026); contribution percentages from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25; 2025 HHS poverty guidelines. A credit larger than the Bronze premium does not come back as cash; it is applied up to the premium, and the balance is available toward a richer plan. The Marketplace sets the final credit.

The same contractor at $45,000 pays about $189 for the cheapest Bronze in Hillsborough County, Florida, about $264 in Maricopa County, Arizona, about $200 in Wayne County, Michigan, and about $153 in Davidson County, Tennessee. Notice that the expensive counties are not always worse once the credit is applied: Davidson has the highest Bronze price in the table at full price but one of the lowest after the credit, because its benchmark is high and the credit is measured against the benchmark. A contractor who qualifies for a credit should never judge a county by its sticker price.

Your income is not the total on your 1099 forms

This is where contractors most often get it wrong, usually against themselves. The credit is based on modified adjusted gross income, and for a sole proprietor the Marketplace is asking for a figure three steps away from the 1099 totals.

• Start with net profit, not gross receipts. A contractor who received $75,000 of 1099 payments and spent $12,000 on software, a home office, mileage and supplies has $63,000 of net profit on Schedule C. That is the starting point, not $75,000.
• Subtract half of your self-employment tax. On $63,000 of profit the self-employment tax is roughly $8,900, and half of it, about $4,450, comes off above the line. Income is now about $58,550, which is 374% of the poverty level and inside the credit, even though the 1099 forms said $75,000.
• Subtract retirement contributions and the health insurance deduction. A SEP-IRA or solo 401(k) contribution reduces the figure further, and so do the premiums you pay yourself. The IRS Publication 974 worksheet handles the circular part, where the deduction raises the credit and the credit shrinks the deduction.

Put that contractor in Harris County at 40. At $58,550 the expected contribution is 9.96% of income, about $486 a month, so the credit against a $592 benchmark is roughly $105 and the cheapest Bronze costs about $270 a month rather than the full $375. A contractor who typed "$75,000" into the Marketplace would have been told the credit was zero. The difference over a year is more than $1,200, and the only thing that changed was counting income the way the Marketplace form asks for it. Confirm the figures with your tax professional before you rely on them.

Irregular income: the contractor's particular problem

Employees know their income in January. Contractors guess. The Marketplace pays the credit in advance each month based on your projection, and the IRS reconciles it on your return, so a guess that is too low means repaying some of the credit in April, and a guess that is too high means you paid more all year than you needed to. Three habits make this manageable:

• Project conservatively, then update. When a big contract lands in July, report the change to the Marketplace that month. The advance credit adjusts for the rest of the year instead of becoming a lump-sum repayment.
• Know which side of the line you are on. If your income finishes the year under 400% of the poverty level, the amount you can be asked to repay is capped. If it finishes over the line, every dollar of advance credit is repayable. A contractor who might clear $62,600 should plan as if the whole year's credit could come back, and that is a reason to consider the retirement-contribution strategies in the tax credit guide.
• Budget the premium at full price, bank the difference. Several of our advisors suggest contractors pay the full premium mentally and treat the credit as a refund they may or may not keep. It removes the April surprise entirely.

When a private plan fits a contractor, and when it does not

Private health plans are priced on age, sex and health rather than income, and that is exactly why they come up for contractors. They do not get cheaper when income drops and they do not jump when it rises, which suits someone whose income swings or who has cleared the cliff for good. For a healthy 40-year-old the ranges above start at $155 to $200 a month against $375 to $546 for the cheapest Marketplace Bronze at full price, and the deductibles are typically lower than a $9,000 Bronze deductible. Enrollment is open in any month, so a contract that starts in March does not mean waiting for November, and the plans are generally PPO-style, which matters to a contractor who works in several states and would otherwise be tied to one county's HMO network.

Now the honest side, which matters more than the price:

• They are medically underwritten. The application asks health questions and the carrier can decline you, charge more, or exclude a condition. A contractor with an ongoing condition almost always belongs on the Marketplace, where nothing can be excluded and no one can be turned away, even at full price. The underwriting guide explains what the application asks.
• They are not ACA coverage. Benefits vary and need not match the ten essential health benefits. An advisor should walk through what is and is not covered before you switch.
• If you qualify for a meaningful credit, run the Marketplace first. At $45,000 the Harris County contractor pays $142 for Bronze after the credit, which is already inside the private range, with no health questions and full ACA protections. The private column is for the contractor at $70,000, not the one at $45,000.

Contractors who move or work across state lines

Marketplace plans are sold by county, and most of the cheapest ones are HMOs or EPOs tied to a local network, so a contractor who spends half the year in another state may find the network does not travel. A permanent move to a new county opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and you re-shop at the new county's prices, which can be meaningfully different: the same 40-year-old moves from a $349 Bronze in Wayne County to a $546 Bronze in Davidson County. State-level prices for every age are on the Texas, Florida, Michigan and Tennessee pages, and the every-state guide covers the rest. Where a figure comes from and how the credit is estimated is spelled out on how we price.

The short version

• Count income the way the Marketplace does: net profit, minus half of self-employment tax, minus retirement contributions, minus premiums. It is usually well below your 1099 total.
• Under $62,600 alone, or $84,600 as a couple, and likely to stay there: the Marketplace with your credit almost always wins, and it wins outright if you have an ongoing condition.
• Near the line: run the SEP-IRA and deduction maths before you decide. Staying under the line is often worth thousands a year.
• Over the line and healthy: price a private plan against the full Marketplace premium before you pay it. An advisor confirms the private number after a short health application.
• Over the line with an ongoing condition: the Marketplace at full price, deducted at tax time, is probably your answer.

Every figure above is for a single applicant in a handful of counties. The tool on this site prices every Marketplace plan sold in your ZIP for your age and household, estimates your credit from the income you enter, and shows the private range beside it, so you can see which column applies to you before you talk to anyone.

Questions people ask

Sources: CMS QHP Landscape PY2026 Individual Medical file (data.healthcare.gov, snapshot August 4, 2026) for every Marketplace premium; KFF benchmark premiums for states that run their own marketplace; HHS 2025 poverty guidelines (90 FR 5917) and IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 for the credit rules; IRS Publication 974 and Schedule 1 instructions for the self-employed health insurance deduction; carrier rate tables used by our advisors for private ranges. Figures are monthly, non-tobacco, and can change before Open Enrollment. This guide is general information, not tax advice; confirm with your tax professional.