Ranked 3 of 15 states · median $636/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old accountant in South Carolina pays a median $636/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 3th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $456 from Ambetter from Absolute Total Care in Abbeville. On cheapest Silver at age 27, South Carolina ranks 3 of 15 for this occupation.
Screen-based work skews younger and healthier, which is exactly the profile a high-deductible plan is built for. The risk is real — you carry the first several thousand dollars yourself — so the tables below show what a healthy buyer pays across the age curve, not just at 40.
Occupational context: Sedentary strain: eye strain, repetitive stress, and Q1 stress load.
Two things get confused here constantly. Risk exposure decides what coverage you should buy. It does not decide what you are charged — South Carolina carriers rate on age, ZIP, tobacco and family size, full stop. A accountant with a bad back and a healthy 40-year-old office worker in the same county see the same number.
Premium is set by rating area, so a accountant in one South Carolina county can pay materially more than one an hour away. Six counties from across the state, cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old:
| County | Cheapest Silver @40 | Issuer | Deductible | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | $530 | Ambetter from Absolute Total Care | $6,000 | 5 |
| Newberry | $546 | Ambetter from Absolute Total Care | $6,000 | 4 |
| Chesterfield | $558 | InStil Health | $6,500 | 4 |
| Clarendon | $582 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 4 |
| York | $613 | InStil Health | $6,500 | 4 |
| McCormick | $497 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 3 |
The spread across just these six is $116/month — $1,391 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $456 to $931. Coverage by County publishes all 46 South Carolina counties individually.
| South Carolina — the age curve | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cheapest Silver @27 | $374 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $456 |
| Cheapest Silver @60 | $968 |
| Cheapest Bronze @40 | $336 — BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina |
| Bronze deductible | $10,600 |
| Lowest deductible in state | $250 |
A 27-year-old accountant in South Carolina starts at $374; the same plan class at 60 starts at $968 — roughly 2.6× as much. If a Bronze plan here is HSA-qualified, the deduction plus low claim volume usually beats Silver on total annual cost. Confirm HSA eligibility on the plan document, not the metal tier.
Source: CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file. 2,518 plan records across 46 South Carolina counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Indiana ($558), Ohio ($625). More expensive: Alabama ($680), Wisconsin ($687), Michigan ($708).
Side-by-side: South Carolina vs Indiana · South Carolina vs Ohio · South Carolina vs Alabama · South Carolina vs Wisconsin
Cross-state numbers are useful for understanding whether South Carolina is treating you well, not for arbitrage. You cannot buy an out-of-state exchange plan. If you are a accountant weighing a relocation for other reasons, the premium difference is a real line item worth putting in the decision.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Software, licensing, CPE credits, home office. Note the ordering problem with health premiums: the §162(l) deduction lowers your AGI, and your AGI is what sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other. That is a CPA conversation and worth having before you enroll, not after.
If your household income is above the subsidy range, ACA is not automatically the answer. There are other categories of coverage that may fit, and they work very differently. That is a conversation, not a web page.
The cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old in South Carolina is $456 per month from Ambetter from Absolute Total Care, with a state median of $636. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
It cannot happen on an exchange plan. Rating in South Carolina uses four inputs only: age, ZIP code, tobacco use and how many people are on the policy. Trade, injury history and pre-existing conditions are all excluded from pricing by law.
Yes. Plan types filed for 2026: EPO, HMO, POS, PPO.
South Carolina ranks 3 of 15 states covered here, at a median $636 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
Above the cliff. At this income a single-person household receives no premium tax credit for 2026 and pays the full premium.
This occupation is above the cliff in all 21 states reported.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Accountants and Auditors (SOC 13-2011) in South Carolina. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed accountant. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.
Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2026 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $62,600 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For South Carolina specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Accountants in South Carolina and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
The South Carolina market currently runs to 6 carriers over 46 counties. Carriers re-file every year, and for Accountants the question that actually decides your renewal is which of them are still there in November.
Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. South Carolina has not finalised, so treat exact local 2027 pricing as unavailable rather than unknown.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, South Carolina included. Conflicting end dates get quoted because a 2025 rule shortened the window and a court vacated it in June 2026, appeal pending — enrol by the 15th and the argument is irrelevant to you.
All 46 counties in South Carolina sell a PPO, which is unusual and useful. For an accountant covering ground, it is the plan type that travels best.
Nothing about 2027 is urgent yet, which is exactly why it is worth ten minutes now. Come November you will be choosing between South Carolina’s carriers under a deadline; today you can do it without one.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Two Accountants on opposite sides of South Carolina can be quoted very different premiums for the same plan. Your ZIP is what decides it.