Ranked 16 of 17 states · median $828/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old general contractor in Arkansas pays a median $828/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 16th of 17 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $753 from Octave in Arkansas. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Arkansas ranks 2 of 17 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: Falls, struck-by injuries, and heavy-equipment exposure.
None of that changes your price. ACA plans in Arkansas are community rated — premium varies by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size only. Your occupation cannot be used to rate you, decline you, or exclude a condition. What it changes is which plan design is the right bet.
Premium is set by rating area rather than by county, so counties in the same area price identically. Six counties from across Arkansas, cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old:
| County | Cheapest Silver @40 | Issuer | Deductible | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Lonoke | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Nevada | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Polk | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Scott | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
| Van Buren | $753 | Octave | $6,000 | 4 |
All six fall in the same rating area, so they price identically at $753. Statewide the range still runs $753 to $879. Coverage by County publishes all 75 Arkansas counties individually.
| Arkansas — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $2,050 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $647 — Octave |
| Gold deductible | $5,900 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $753 — Octave |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $1,052 |
For a general contractor, the gap between $2,050 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. 3,900 plan records across 75 Arkansas counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Utah ($805), Texas ($807), North Carolina ($828). More expensive: Nebraska ($875).
Side-by-side: Arkansas vs Texas · Arkansas vs North Carolina · Arkansas vs Nebraska
This only matters if you can actually choose — you buy in the state where you live, not where you work. If you are a general contractor 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 general contractor, the categories that usually show up are: Tools, truck, liability insurance, bonding, licensing. 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 BLS median wage for First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers in Arkansas is $62,200 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $45,340. The middle half earn $50,780 to $76,460, and the top 10% more than $94,330. BLS counts about 6,390 people doing this work for an employer in Arkansas. The self-employed are not in the BLS survey, so this is the going rate for the work, not your own number.
The cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old in Arkansas is $753 per month from Octave, with a state median of $828. 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.
Yes. Plan types filed for 2026: POS, PPO.
Arkansas ranks 16 of 17 states covered here, at a median $828 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 2027.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 22 of the 23 states reported and below it in the other 1, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (SOC 47-1011) in Arkansas. 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 general 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 2027 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $63,840 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For Arkansas specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for General Contractors in Arkansas and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
The Arkansas market currently runs to 4 carriers over 75 counties. Carriers re-file every year, and for General Contractors 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 Arkansas 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, Arkansas 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.
In your favour: PPOs are sold in all 75 Arkansas counties. That is the type most likely to pay toward out-of-network care, and worth defending at renewal if your work as a general contractor takes you around.
Nothing about 2027 is urgent yet, which is exactly why it is worth ten minutes now. Come November you will be choosing between Arkansas’s carriers under a deadline; today you can do it without one.
Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will tell you three things:
Coverage for General Contractors is priced county by county across Arkansas. Enter your ZIP and a licensed agent will show you what is on the table.
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