Benchmark $615/mo · +34.6% approved · Georgia Access
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A 40-year-old barber in Georgia faces a benchmark premium of $615/month for 2026, up from $493 in 2025. That is 2% below the national benchmark of $625. Carriers were approved for an average increase of +34.6%.
There is no CMS plan-level file for Georgia, because Georgia operates Georgia Access instead of healthcare.gov and its issuers file with the state rather than through the federal platform. That is a real gap in the public data, and it is the reason this page leads with approved rate changes and market concentration rather than a county premium grid.
Georgia moved off healthcare.gov to its own exchange, Georgia Access, for plan year 2025. It also posted the largest approved rate increase of the six, at 34.6%.
| Georgia — 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2026) | $615 |
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2025) | $493 |
| Year-over-year change | +24.7% |
| Approved average rate increase | +34.6% |
| Versus the national benchmark ($625) | -2% |
| Rank among your 23 licensed states | 11 of 23 |
| Counties | 159 |
| Carriers on the exchange | 8 |
| Exchange | Georgia Access (state-run since 2025) |
Ambetter (Peach State), Alliant, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, CareSource, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, Oscar.
Alliant is the state’s only PPO carrier on the exchange. Atlanta-area counties such as Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett have five to seven carriers; rural south Georgia counties often have one or two, with Ambetter dominant.
Sources: Georgia Office of Commissioner of Insurance 2026 rate filings; Georgia Access. KFF, “Marketplace Average Benchmark Premiums,” 2026. Benchmark is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan for a 40-year-old, weighted by plan selections.
Steady, predictable utilization means copay design and network breadth drive annual cost more than the sticker premium.
Occupational context: Repetitive shoulder/wrist strain; prolonged standing; chemical exposure.
To be clear about what this does and does not affect: a Georgia carrier cannot ask your occupation, cannot charge a barber more than anyone else of the same age in the same ZIP, and cannot exclude a condition you already have. Occupation only tells you which plan structure to shop for.
Ranked on the benchmark premium, the one measure published on the same basis for every state. Cheaper: South Carolina ($564), Oklahoma ($604), Wisconsin ($611). More expensive: North Carolina ($638), Utah ($640), Alabama ($645).
You buy where you live, not where you work, so treat this as context rather than a shopping list. A genuine move does open a special enrollment period.
Expense categories that typically apply to this trade: Chair rental, clippers, products, licensing. Health premiums are generally deductible above the line under IRC §162(l) when no employer plan is available to you or a spouse. The deduction lowers your AGI, and AGI sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other — worth raising with your CPA before you enroll rather than after.
The BLS median wage for Barbers in Georgia is $47,630 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $18,330. The middle half earn $29,180 to $63,810, and the top 10% more than $85,600. BLS counts about 650 people doing this work for an employer in Georgia. The self-employed are not in the BLS survey, so this is the going rate for the work, not your own number.
8 carriers offer individual plans on Georgia Access for 2026: Alliant Health Plans, Ambetter, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, CareSource, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, Oscar, UnitedHealthcare. Availability varies by county.
The 2026 benchmark premium in Georgia is $615 per month for a 40-year-old, up from $493 in 2025. That is full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
Carriers in Georgia were approved for an average increase of 34.6%. Filings across the country cited the expiry of the enhanced federal premium tax credits at the end of 2025, rising medical and drug costs, and expectations that healthier people would drop coverage.
No. Exchange plans are guaranteed issue and community rated. Price varies only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size. Occupation is not a rating factor.
No. Georgia runs its own exchange, Georgia Access, state-operated since 2025. You enrolll there rather than on healthcare.gov.
Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2027.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 1 of the 19 states reported and below it in the other 18, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Barbers (SOC 39-5011) in Georgia. 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 barber. 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 2027 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $63,840 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For Georgia specifically — county-level carriers and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Barbers in Georgia and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Because Georgia operates a state-based exchange, its 2027 data is published separately from the federal landscape files. If you are a barber here, the national summaries are usually either late or simply wrong about this state.
Nobody can tell you your 2027 Georgia premium yet. Filings nationally cluster around a 15% median increase, with the full spread running −1% to 54% — and until this state signs off, a specific local number is invention.
Mark November 1, 2026 to open and December 15 to act. That second date guarantees cover from January 1 in Georgia regardless of how the current litigation over the enrollment window resolves.
Georgia publishes its 2027 plan data on its own schedule rather than in the federal files, so the earlier you get a read on your options the less you are relying on national summaries that may not apply here.
Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will tell you three things:
Two Barbers on opposite sides of Georgia can be quoted very different premiums for the same plan. Your ZIP is what decides it.
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