Ranked 11 of 17 states · median $773/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old painter in Mississippi pays a median $773/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 11th of 17 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $598 from Oscar Health Plan in DeSoto. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Mississippi ranks 16 of 17 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: Solvent and VOC inhalation; ladder falls; shoulder strain.
This is background for choosing a plan, not for pricing one. Since 2014 every Mississippi exchange plan has been guaranteed issue and community rated: same age, same ZIP, same tobacco status means the same filed premium whether you are a painter or an accountant. Occupation changes the shopping criteria, nothing else.
Premium is set by rating area, so a painter in one Mississippi 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lauderdale | $684 | Ambetter from Magnolia Health | $6,000 | 3 |
| Monroe | $684 | Ambetter from Magnolia Health | $6,000 | 4 |
| Prentiss | $684 | Ambetter from Magnolia Health | $6,000 | 3 |
| Tishomingo | $684 | Ambetter from Magnolia Health | $6,000 | 3 |
| Yalobusha | $684 | Ambetter from Magnolia Health | $6,000 | 3 |
| Tunica | $598 | Oscar Health Plan | $6,300 | 5 |
The spread across just these six is $86/month — $1,030 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $598 to $913. Coverage by County publishes all 82 Mississippi counties individually.
| Mississippi — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $7,250 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $812 — Ambetter from Magnolia Health |
| Gold deductible | $2,000 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $598 — Oscar Health Plan |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $836 |
For a painter, the gap between $7,250 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. 2,834 plan records across 82 Mississippi counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Oklahoma ($731), Kansas ($765), Tennessee ($773). More expensive: Florida ($789), Utah ($805), Texas ($807).
Side-by-side: Mississippi vs Kansas · Mississippi vs Tennessee · Mississippi vs Florida · Mississippi vs Utah
A caveat on the table above: rating is by residence, not by job site. A painter living in Mississippi and working across a state line still buys Mississippi plans. A genuine permanent move does trigger a special enrollment period, but the plan year restarts with a fresh deductible.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Sprayers, ladders, paint, van, 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 BLS median wage for Painters, Construction and Maintenance in Mississippi is $40,750 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $32,720. The middle half earn $36,970 to $49,120, and the top 10% more than $57,530. BLS counts about 810 people doing this work for an employer in Mississippi. 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 Mississippi is $598 per month from Oscar Health Plan, with a state median of $773. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
No. Mississippi exchange plans are guaranteed issue and community rated, so a painter pays exactly what anyone else of the same age in the same ZIP pays. Occupation is not on the application as a rating factor.
No. Only EPO and HMO plans were filed for 2026.
Mississippi ranks 11 of 17 states covered here, at a median $773 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 is below the cliff in all 23 states reported.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Painters, Construction and Maintenance (SOC 47-2141) in Mississippi. 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 painter. 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 Mississippi specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Painters in Mississippi and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Two of Mississippi’s 5 carriers are leaving. Cigna and Molina both exit Mississippi’s individual market on January 1, 2027, so if you are a painter covered by either the question is not whether you switch but whether you choose the switch yourself.
Nobody can tell you your 2027 Mississippi 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, Mississippi 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 Mississippi. All 82 counties offer EPO or HMO plans only, so care outside the network is effectively emergency-only. If your work as a painter crosses county lines, weigh that above the premium.
If you are with Cigna or Molina, you already know you are changing plans — both are 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 now than in the second week of December.
Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will tell you three things:
Two Painters on opposite sides of Mississippi can be quoted very different premiums for the same plan. Your ZIP is what decides it.
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