Benchmark $646/mo · +28.8% approved · Get Covered Illinois
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A 40-year-old bookkeeper in Illinois faces a benchmark premium of $646/month for 2026, up from $474 in 2025. That is 3% above the national benchmark of $625. Carriers were approved for an average increase of +28.8%.
There is no CMS plan-level file for Illinois, because Illinois operates Get Covered Illinois 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.
Illinois launched its own exchange for plan year 2026, making it the most recent state to leave healthcare.gov. Several carriers revised filings upward after the initial submission: Celtic went from a requested 18.7% to an approved 38.6%.
| Illinois — 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2026) | $646 |
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2025) | $474 |
| Year-over-year change | +36.3% |
| Approved average rate increase | +28.8% |
| Versus the national benchmark ($625) | +3% |
| Rank among your 21 licensed states | 15 of 21 |
| Counties | 102 |
| Carriers on the exchange | 6 |
| Exchange | Get Covered Illinois (state-run since 2026) |
| Carrier | Network | Members | 2026 approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambetter (Celtic) | — | — | +38.6% |
| Molina Healthcare | — | — | +21.5% |
| UnitedHealthcare | — | — | +20.8% |
| Oscar | — | — | +10.4% |
Three carriers left the Illinois individual market for 2026 — Aetna, Health Alliance Medical Plans and Quartz Health — so the county-level choice set narrowed in much of the state.
Sources: Illinois Department of Insurance 2026 rate approvals, finalized September 8, 2025. KFF, “Marketplace Average Benchmark Premiums,” 2026. Benchmark is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan for a 40-year-old, weighted by plan selections.
Low claim volume and a younger buyer usually favor a high-deductible plan paired with an HSA.
Occupational context: Repetitive stress and eye strain from screen work.
This is background for choosing a plan, not for pricing one. Every Illinois exchange plan is guaranteed issue and community rated: same age, same ZIP, same tobacco status means the same premium whether you are a bookkeeper or an accountant.
Ranked on the benchmark premium, the one measure published on the same basis for every state. Cheaper: North Carolina ($638), Utah ($640), Alabama ($645). More expensive: South Dakota ($655), Texas ($661), Kansas ($670).
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: Software subscriptions, home office, continuing education. 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.
Illinois’s 2026 benchmark premium is $646 a month for a 40-year-old. The national benchmark is $625, so Illinois sits above average.
The 2026 benchmark premium in Illinois is $646 per month for a 40-year-old, up from $474 in 2025. That is full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
Carriers in Illinois were approved for an average increase of 28.8%. 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. Illinois runs its own exchange, Get Covered Illinois, state-operated since 2026. 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 2026.
This occupation is below the cliff in all 21 states reported.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks (SOC 43-3031) in Illinois. 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 bookkeeper. 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 Illinois specifically — county-level carriers and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Bookkeepers in Illinois and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Illinois runs its own marketplace rather than healthcare.gov, so 2027 plan and rate detail arrives on the state’s timetable, not in the federal files most comparison sites reprint. For a bookkeeper that makes national round-ups the least reliable place to look.
On price the only honest number today is national: the Peterson-KFF read of 2027 filings puts the median proposed rise near 15%, spanning −1% to 54%. Final Illinois rates are not approved, so any precise 2027 figure quoted for this state is guesswork.
The window opens November 1, 2026, and December 15 is the date worth writing down — it is what secures January 1 cover in Illinois and everywhere else. You will find later dates quoted; they stem from a 2025 rule that was vacated in June 2026 and is under appeal.
Illinois 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.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
There is no single Illinois price. Enter your ZIP and I will pull what is filed in your county, then work out what help you qualify for.