If you retire before age 65, you need to bridge your own health coverage until Medicare begins, and in 2026 that bridge is more expensive than it has been in years because the enhanced ACA subsidies that lowered premiums since 2021 have expired, pushing full-price benchmark Silver premiums to approximately $1,405 a month at age…
For a healthy individual in a defined, temporary coverage gap who doesn’t qualify for an ACA subsidy and has no qualifying life event to trigger a Marketplace Special Enrollment Period, a short-term health plan fits best when the gap is genuinely short (under 60 days) and a health share fits better when the gap is…
When an ACA Marketplace insurer denies a claim, you have a federally guaranteed right to appeal that decision through an internal review and, if necessary, an independent external review by a third party, and those appeals succeed more often than most people realize, yet fewer than 1% of denied claims are ever appealed. When a…
Freelancers and gig workers buy their own health insurance because no employer does it for them, and in 2026, that means navigating a market where average ACA premiums rose substantially and average deductibles jumped to their highest levels on record, making it more important than ever to understand exactly which option fits your income level,…
If you’re buying your own health coverage in Indiana, your main options are an ACA Marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, the Healthy Indiana Plan if your income qualifies, a health sharing ministry, Direct Primary Care, short-term insurance, or a fixed indemnity plan, and Indiana stands out in two ways: it expanded Medicaid in 2015 through a…
The ACA subsidy cliff is the point at which a household’s income crosses 400% of the federal poverty level and loses access to premium tax credits entirely, with no gradual phase-out, which means a small raise can suddenly cost you thousands of dollars a year in lost financial assistance. That cliff disappeared for five years…
Starting with 2026 Marketplace coverage, anyone who receives more advance premium tax credit than they actually qualify for must repay the full excess amount when they file their taxes in 2027, because the federal repayment caps that previously limited how much lower- and middle-income enrollees had to pay back have been permanently eliminated. This is…
If you’re buying your own health coverage in Arizona, your main options are an ACA Marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, AHCCCS Medicaid if your income qualifies, a health sharing ministry, Direct Primary Care, short-term insurance, or a fixed indemnity plan, and Arizona’s individual market in 2026 is one of the most disrupted in the country, with…
If you’re buying your own health coverage in Texas, your main options are an ACA Marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, a health share, Direct Primary Care, short-term insurance, or a fixed indemnity plan, and which one fits depends heavily on your income, since Texas has not expanded Medicaid and has the highest uninsured rate in the…
If you’re buying your own health coverage in Kansas, your main options are an ACA Marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, a health sharing ministry, Direct Primary Care, short-term insurance, or a fixed indemnity plan, and Kansas became one of the most consequential states for health sharing in 2026 when its Legislature overrode the governor’s veto to…