Ranked 11 of 15 states · median $805/mo · CMS PY2026
Licensed Independent Agent · NPN #22052447 · 21 States
A 40-year-old personal chef in Utah pays a median $805/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 11th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $559 from Select Health in Davis. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, Utah ranks 14 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: Burns and cuts; prolonged standing; heat exposure.
Worth being clear about what this does and does not affect: a carrier in Utah cannot ask what you do for a living, cannot charge a personal chef more than a librarian of the same age in the same ZIP, and cannot exclude anything you were already treated for. Occupation only tells you which plan structure to shop for.
Premium is set by rating area, so a personal chef in one Utah 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon | $798 | Select Health | $6,000 | 4 |
| Kane | $798 | Select Health | $6,000 | 2 |
| Wayne | $798 | Select Health | $6,000 | 2 |
| Wasatch | $574 | Select Health | $5,900 | 2 |
| Beaver | $798 | Select Health | $6,000 | 2 |
| Juab | $798 | Select Health | $6,000 | 4 |
The spread across just these six is $224/month — $2,694 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $559 to $1,125. Coverage by County publishes all 29 Utah counties individually.
| Utah — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $0 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $0 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $646 — Select Health |
| Gold deductible | $0 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $559 — Select Health |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $804 |
For a personal chef, the gap between $0 and $0 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. 699 plan records across 29 Utah counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Oklahoma ($731), Kansas ($765), Florida ($789). More expensive: Texas ($807), North Carolina ($828), Arkansas ($828).
Side-by-side: Utah vs Kansas · Utah vs Florida · Utah vs Texas · Utah vs North Carolina
This only matters if you can actually choose — you buy in the state where you live, not where you work. If you are a personal chef who moved this year, that move is a qualifying life event and opens a special enrollment period.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Ingredients, knives and equipment, vehicle, licensing. 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 Utah is $559 per month from Select Health, with a state median of $805. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
No. Utah exchange plans are guaranteed issue and community rated, so a personal chef 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.
Utah ranks 11 of 15 states covered here, at a median $805 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
This page compares states. For Utah specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Personal Chefs in Utah and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.