Private Health Plans for the Self-Employed

I am an independent, licensed health insurance broker, licensed in 31 states. These guides are for people who work for themselves — 1099 contractors, freelancers, and small business owners — and want to understand the options that sit outside the Marketplace. There is no fee for my help. The insurance company pays the broker, not you.

The rules change at the state line. Medically underwritten plans can run 36 months in Texas, 90 days in Maryland, and are not sold at all in Colorado or Illinois.

How these differ from the state coverage guides

The main state guides explain how coverage works where you live. These go one level deeper into the question self-employed people actually ask: is there something cheaper than a full-price Marketplace plan, and is it any good?

The honest answer depends on two things — your health history, and which state you are in. A healthy freelancer in Texas has options a healthy freelancer in Illinois simply does not. Each guide below covers what is genuinely available in that state, what the trade-offs are, and when the Marketplace is still the better answer.

What changed for 2026

The enhanced premium tax credits that ran from 2021 through 2025 expired, which brought back the hard cut-off at 400% of the federal poverty level. Under it, you get help; a dollar over it, and you pay full price. Separately, federal enforcement of the four-month limit on short-term plans was dropped in August 2025, so longer-duration medically underwritten coverage is available again in states that allow it.

Both of those changes land harder on self-employed households than on anyone else, because your income is a projection rather than a paystub and nobody is splitting the premium with you.

Pick your state

AlabamaShort-term to 36 months · No Medicaid expansion ArkansasShort-term to 36 months · Medicaid expanded ColoradoNo short-term plans sold · Connect for Health CO DelawareShort-term capped at 90 days · State marketplace FloridaShort-term to 36 months · No Medicaid expansion GeorgiaShort-term to 36 months · Georgia Access IllinoisNo short-term plans sold · Get Covered Illinois IndianaCapped at 180 days · Farm Bureau plans IowaCapped at 90 days · Farm Bureau plans KansasCapped at 24 months · Farm Bureau plans KentuckyShort-term to 36 months · kynect LouisianaShort-term capped at 180 days Maryland90 days, no renewal · MD Health Connection MichiganShort-term capped at 185 days MississippiShort-term to 36 months · No Medicaid expansion MissouriCapped at 180 days · Farm Bureau plans (2025) MontanaShort-term to 36 months NebraskaShort-term to 36 months NevadaCapped at 185 days · Nevada Health Link North CarolinaShort-term to 36 months · Expanded in 2023 OhioShort-term to 36 months Oklahoma364 days, not renewable South CarolinaShort-term to 36 months · No Medicaid expansion South DakotaCapped at 185 days · Farm Bureau plans TennesseeShort-term to 36 months · Farm Bureau plans TexasShort-term to 36 months · Farm Bureau plans Utah363 days, not renewable VirginiaShort-term to 36 months · VA Insurance Marketplace West VirginiaShort-term to 36 months WisconsinCapped at 18 months · BadgerCare to 100% FPL WyomingShort-term to 36 months · No Medicaid expansion

Not sure which side of the line you are on?

Tell me your ZIP code, your rough household income for the year, and whether anyone on the application has a health history worth mentioning. I will price the Marketplace and the private side together and tell you which one actually wins. No fee, no obligation.

Get a free quote →📞 Call (813) 695-2251

Posey Health Solutions · National Producer Number 20609967 · licensed in 31 states. These pages are general information, not advice about a specific plan, and they are not tax advice. Plan availability, carrier participation, and duration limits vary by county, carrier, and plan year, and the rules can change.