Ranked 12 of 15 states · median $807/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old flooring contractor in Texas pays a median $807/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 12th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $540 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas in Cameron. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Texas ranks 13 of 15 for this occupation.
Trade work concentrates cost into rare, expensive events rather than spreading it across the year. That inverts the usual shopping logic: a lower premium with a $9,200 ceiling is a worse deal than a higher premium with a $6,000 one, because the ceiling is what you actually hit. These rankings follow the ceiling.
Occupational context: Knee and back injury; adhesive and dust inhalation.
Two things get confused here constantly. Risk exposure decides what coverage you should buy. It does not decide what you are charged — Texas carriers rate on age, ZIP, tobacco and family size, full stop. A flooring contractor 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 flooring contractor in one Texas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ector | $645 | Ambetter from Superior HealthPlan | $6,000 | 4 |
| Starr | $649 | Ambetter from Superior HealthPlan | $6,000 | 3 |
| Rains | $653 | CHRISTUS | $5,990 | 4 |
| Refugio | $656 | CHRISTUS | $5,990 | 4 |
| Jim Wells | $676 | CHRISTUS | $6,000 | 3 |
| Galveston | $681 | UnitedHealthcare | $0 | 5 |
The spread across just these six is $37/month — $438 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $540 to $1,409. Coverage by County publishes all 254 Texas counties individually.
| Texas — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $5,000 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $467 — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas |
| Gold deductible | $500 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $540 — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $754 |
For a flooring contractor, the gap between $5,000 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. 13,013 plan records across 254 Texas counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Kansas ($765), Florida ($789), Utah ($805). More expensive: North Carolina ($828), Arkansas ($828), Nebraska ($875).
Side-by-side: Texas vs Florida · Texas vs Utah · Texas vs North Carolina · Texas vs Arkansas
This only matters if you can actually choose — you buy in the state where you live, not where you work. If you are a flooring contractor who moved this year, that move is a qualifying life event and opens a special enrollment period.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Tools, van, materials, knee protection, liability insurance. Note the ordering problem with health premiums: the §162(l) deduction lowers your AGI, and your AGI is what sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other. That is a CPA conversation and worth having before you enroll, not after.
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 Texas is $540 per month from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, with a state median of $807. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
No. Under the ACA, carriers cannot rate, decline, or exclude based on occupation or health history. Rates vary only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size.
No. Only EPO and HMO and POS plans were filed for 2026.
Texas ranks 12 of 15 states covered here, at a median $807 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 Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles (SOC 47-2042) in Texas. 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 flooring contractor. 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 Texas specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Flooring Contractors in Texas and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Texas loses a carrier this cycle: Cigna is out of the ACA individual market from January 1, 2027, leaving 14 filing here. For Flooring Contractors that is a forced decision, and a better one made in November than in January.
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 Texas rates are not approved, so any precise 2027 figure quoted for this state is guesswork.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, Texas 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 Texas. All 254 counties offer HMO, EPO or POS only, so care outside the network is effectively emergency-only. If your work as a flooring contractor crosses county lines, weigh that above the premium.
You already know you are changing plans — Cigna is leaving. The only real question is whether you pick the replacement or the marketplace picks it for you, and that is a much easier decision made in August than in the second week of December.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Most Flooring Contractors 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 Texas.