Ranked 1 of 15 states · median $558/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old landscape contractor in Indiana pays a median $558/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — the cheapest of the states covered here. The cheapest plan in the state is $440 from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Daviess. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Indiana ranks 4 of 15 for this occupation.
For work with real injury exposure the premium is the wrong headline number. What decides a bad year is the annual out-of-pocket maximum — the ceiling you stop paying at. A fall, a fracture, an imaging series and a course of physical therapy will reach that ceiling on any metal tier, so the states below are ordered by worst-case exposure.
Occupational context: Heat illness; equipment injury; pesticide exposure.
None of that changes your price. ACA plans in Indiana 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, so a landscape contractor in one Indiana 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton | $460 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $7,000 | 3 |
| Dearborn | $465 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $7,000 | 3 |
| Hendricks | $469 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $7,000 | 4 |
| Jennings | $474 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $7,000 | 3 |
| Clark | $482 | Ambetter Health | $6,000 | 2 |
| LaPorte | $492 | Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield | $7,000 | 3 |
The spread across just these six is $33/month — $391 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $440 to $699. Coverage by County publishes all 92 Indiana counties individually.
| Indiana — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $4,700 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $570 — Ambetter Health |
| Gold deductible | $2,000 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $440 — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $615 |
For a landscape contractor, the gap between $4,700 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. 4,429 plan records across 92 Indiana counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Nothing on this list is cheaper. More expensive: Ohio ($625), South Carolina ($636), Alabama ($680).
Side-by-side: Indiana vs Ohio · Indiana vs South Carolina
Cross-state numbers are useful for understanding whether Indiana is treating you well, not for arbitrage. You cannot buy an out-of-state exchange plan. If you are a landscape contractor weighing a relocation for other reasons, the premium difference is a real line item worth putting in the decision.
If you file a Schedule C as a landscape contractor, the categories that usually show up are: Equipment, truck, trailer, materials, 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 cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old in Indiana is $440 per month from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, with a state median of $558. 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.
Indiana ranks 1 of 15 states covered here, at a median $558 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 Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers (SOC 37-3011) in Indiana. 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 landscape 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 Indiana specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Landscape Contractors in Indiana and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
One of Indiana’s 5 carriers is leaving. Cigna exits the individual market entirely on January 1, 2027, so if you are a landscape contractor covered by them the question is not whether you switch but whether you choose the switch yourself.
Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. Indiana 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, Indiana 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 Indiana. All 92 counties offer HMO, EPO or POS only, so care outside the network is effectively emergency-only. If your work as a landscape 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:
Two Landscape Contractors on opposite sides of Indiana can be quoted very different premiums for the same plan. Your ZIP is what decides it.