Ranked 2 of 15 states · median $625/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old carpenter 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 highest out-of-pocket maximum, Ohio ranks 9 of 15 for this occupation.
Injury exposure means the number that matters is the out-of-pocket maximum, not the premium. A single ER visit and follow-up can hit that ceiling in one month, so these pages rank states by worst-case annual exposure rather than by monthly cost.
Occupational context: Saw and nail-gun injuries; hearing loss; back strain from lifting.
Two things get confused here constantly. Risk exposure decides what coverage you should buy. It does not decide what you are charged — Ohio carriers rate on age, ZIP, tobacco and family size, full stop. A carpenter 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 carpenter 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | $528 | Antidote Health Plan of Ohio | $7,500 | 7 |
| Shelby | $536 | Oscar Health Insurance | $6,000 | 7 |
| Hancock | $538 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 5 |
| Holmes | $540 | Antidote Health Plan of Ohio | $7,500 | 6 |
| Scioto | $545 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 5 |
| Tuscarawas | $603 | CareSource | $6,200 | 4 |
The spread across just these six is $75/month — $900 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $482 to $924. Coverage by County publishes all 88 Ohio counties individually.
| Ohio — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $5,500 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $482 — Oscar Health Insurance |
| Gold deductible | $2,000 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $482 — Oscar Health Insurance |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $674 |
For a carpenter, the gap between $5,500 and $10,600 in annual out-of-pocket maximum is worth more than any premium difference on this page. One serious injury reaches that ceiling regardless of which plan you picked.
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
This only matters if you can actually choose — you buy in the state where you live, not where you work. If you are a carpenter who moved this year, that move is a qualifying life event and opens a special enrollment period.
If you file a Schedule C as a carpenter, the categories that usually show up are: Tools, truck, lumber, jobsite travel, liability insurance. 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.
It cannot happen on an exchange plan. Rating in Ohio 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.
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 sits above the cliff in 1 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 20, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) 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 carpenter. 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 Carpenters in Ohio and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Right now 11 carriers file plans across the 88 counties of Ohio. Participation is reset annually, which is why Carpenters should check the roster in November rather than assume this year’s options carry over.
Nobody can tell you your 2027 Ohio 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.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, Ohio 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.
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 carpenter 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:
Most Carpenters here are buying their own coverage without an employer. One ZIP is all I need to show you what is available in your part of Ohio.