Benchmark $414/mo · +13.4% approved · Maryland Health Connection
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A 40-year-old electrician in Maryland faces a benchmark premium of $414/month for 2026, up from $365 in 2025. That is 34% below the national benchmark of $625. Carriers were approved for an average increase of +13.4%.
Most pages on this site are built from the CMS Landscape file, which covers only healthcare.gov states. Maryland left that platform and runs Maryland Health Connection, so it appears in no CMS release at all — which is precisely why Maryland numbers are hard to find and why most comparison sites quietly skip it. The figures below were assembled from Maryland rate approvals and the national benchmark series instead.
Maryland has the second-cheapest benchmark premium in the country at $414, behind New Hampshire, and the smallest approved increase of these six at 13.4%. Its 1332 State Innovation Waiver reinsurance program, approved through 2028, keeps rates an estimated 30–35% below where they would otherwise sit — 2026 rates are still 6% below pre-waiver 2018 rates.
| Maryland — 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2026) | $414 |
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2025) | $365 |
| Year-over-year change | +13.4% |
| Approved average rate increase | +13.4% |
| Versus the national benchmark ($625) | -34% |
| Rank among your 21 licensed states | 1 of 21 |
| Counties | 24 |
| Carriers on the exchange | 7 |
| Exchange | Maryland Health Connection (state-run since 2014) |
| Carrier | Network | Members | 2026 approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | 122,623 | +13.6% |
| Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | 93,465 | +15.2% |
| Kaiser | HMO | 49,427 | +9.8% |
| CareFirst CFMI | PPO | 13,412 | +13.1% |
| CareFirst GHMSI | PPO | 8,906 | +13.1% |
| Aetna Health | HMO | 4,939 | not filed for 2026 |
| Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | 1,417 | +10.0% |
| Metal | Carrier | Network | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $295 | $339 | +14.9% |
| Bronze | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $456 | $510 | +11.8% |
| Bronze | Kaiser | HMO | $287 | $328 | +14.3% |
| Bronze | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $261 | $283 | +8.4% |
| Bronze | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $304 | $332 | +9.2% |
| Silver | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $355 | $371 | +4.5% |
| Silver | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $510 | $585 | +14.7% |
| Silver | Kaiser | HMO | $319 | $344 | +7.8% |
| Silver | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $302 | $342 | +13.2% |
| Silver | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $397 | $437 | +10.1% |
| Gold | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $398 | $452 | +13.6% |
| Gold | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $574 | $649 | +13.1% |
| Gold | Kaiser | HMO | $390 | $414 | +6.2% |
| Gold | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $340 | $391 | +15.0% |
| Gold | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $368 | $404 | +9.8% |
Maryland is the only one of these six states that publishes actual approved dollar premiums by carrier and metal tier.
CareFirst GHMSI and CFMI are the only PPO options; every other carrier is HMO. CareFirst holds 49.3% of the market, UnitedHealthcare 31.8%, Kaiser 16.8%.
Sources: Maryland Insurance Administration, “2026 ACA Approved Rates,” September 19, 2025. KFF, “Marketplace Average Benchmark Premiums,” 2026. Benchmark is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan for a 40-year-old, weighted by plan selections.
Injury exposure makes the out-of-pocket maximum, not the premium, the number that decides a bad year.
Occupational context: Arc flash and electrocution risk; falls; confined-space work.
To be clear about what this does and does not affect: a Maryland carrier cannot ask your occupation, cannot charge a electrician 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. Nothing on this list is cheaper. More expensive: Virginia ($455), Indiana ($474), Nevada ($497).
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: Tools, van, licensing, liability insurance, materials. 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.
Maryland carriers were approved for +13.4% on average for 2026. Increases were large across the country because the enhanced federal premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025.
The 2026 benchmark premium in Maryland is $414 per month for a 40-year-old, up from $365 in 2025. That is full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
Carriers in Maryland were approved for an average increase of 13.4%. 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. Maryland runs its own exchange, Maryland Health Connection, state-operated since 2014. You enrolll there rather than on healthcare.gov.
Above the cliff. At this income a single-person household receives no premium tax credit for 2026 and pays the full premium.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 7 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 14, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Electricians (SOC 47-2111) in Maryland. 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 electrician. 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 Maryland specifically — county-level carriers and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Electricians in Maryland and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Maryland 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 an electrician that makes national round-ups the least reliable place to look.
Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. Maryland 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, Maryland 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.
Maryland 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:
Coverage for Electricians is priced county by county across Maryland. Enter your ZIP and I will show you what is on the table.