Ranked 2 of 15 states · median $625/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old bookkeeper in Ohio pays a median $625/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 2th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $482 from Oscar Health Insurance in Butler. On cheapest Silver at age 27, Ohio ranks 4 of 15 for this occupation.
Desk-based work usually means low claim volume and a younger buyer, which makes a high-deductible plan paired with an HSA the mathematically better bet in most years. These pages rank states by what a healthy buyer actually pays at ages 27 and 40.
Occupational context: Repetitive stress and eye strain from screen work.
Worth being clear about what this does and does not affect: a carrier in Ohio cannot ask what you do for a living, cannot charge a bookkeeper more than a librarian of the same age in the same ZIP, and cannot exclude anything you were already treated for. Occupation only tells you which plan structure to shop for.
Premium is set by rating area, so a bookkeeper in one Ohio 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hocking | $537 | Oscar Health Insurance | $6,000 | 7 |
| Mercer | $538 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 5 |
| Gallia | $544 | Antidote Health Plan of Ohio | $7,500 | 5 |
| Williams | $555 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $5,000 | 6 |
| Washington | $604 | Antidote Health Plan of Ohio | $7,500 | 4 |
| Ashtabula | $489 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 5 |
The spread across just these six is $115/month — $1,377 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $482 to $924. Coverage by County publishes all 88 Ohio counties individually.
| Ohio — the age curve | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cheapest Silver @27 | $395 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $482 |
| Cheapest Silver @60 | $1,023 |
| Cheapest Bronze @40 | $406 — SummaCare |
| Bronze deductible | $8,000 |
| Lowest deductible in state | $500 |
A 27-year-old bookkeeper in Ohio starts at $395; the same plan class at 60 starts at $1,023 — 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. 9,038 plan records across 88 Ohio counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Indiana ($558). More expensive: South Carolina ($636), Alabama ($680), Wisconsin ($687).
Side-by-side: Ohio vs Indiana · Ohio vs South Carolina · Ohio vs Alabama
A caveat on the table above: rating is by residence, not by job site. A bookkeeper living in Ohio and working across a state line still buys Ohio plans. A genuine permanent move does trigger a special enrollment period, but the plan year restarts with a fresh deductible.
If you file a Schedule C as a bookkeeper, the categories that usually show up are: Software subscriptions, home office, continuing education. The health premium itself is normally an above-the-line deduction under IRC §162(l), which reduces AGI rather than requiring you to itemize. Your CPA should confirm it against your actual situation.
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 Ohio is $482 per month from Oscar Health Insurance, with a state median of $625. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
No. Ohio exchange plans are guaranteed issue and community rated, so a bookkeeper pays exactly what anyone else of the same age in the same ZIP pays. Occupation is not on the application as a rating factor.
No. Only HMO plans were filed for 2026.
Ohio ranks 2 of 15 states covered here, at a median $625 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
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 Ohio. 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 Ohio specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Bookkeepers in Ohio and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
The Ohio market currently runs to 11 carriers over 88 counties. Carriers re-file every year, and for Bookkeepers the question that actually decides your renewal is which of them are still there in November.
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 Ohio 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 Ohio 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.
One thing 2027 will not fix: no PPO is sold anywhere in Ohio. All 88 counties offer HMO, EPO or POS only, so care outside the network is effectively emergency-only. If your work as a bookkeeper crosses county lines, weigh that above the premium.
Because Ohio sells no PPO in any of its 88 counties, the thing that will decide your 2027 experience is which network your providers sit in — and that is far easier to check now than during the rush.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Rates for Bookkeepers in Ohio are set by county, not by occupation. Start with your ZIP and I will show you the plans actually filed where you live.