Benchmark $646/mo · +28.8% approved · Get Covered Illinois
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A 40-year-old tax preparer in Illinois faces a benchmark premium of $646/month for 2026, up from $474 in 2025. That is 3% above the national benchmark of $625. Carriers were approved for an average increase of +28.8%.
Most pages on this site are built from the CMS Landscape file, which covers only healthcare.gov states. Illinois left that platform and runs Get Covered Illinois, so it appears in no CMS release at all — which is precisely why Illinois numbers are hard to find and why most comparison sites quietly skip it. The figures below were assembled from Illinois rate approvals and the national benchmark series instead.
Illinois launched its own exchange for plan year 2026, making it the most recent state to leave healthcare.gov. Several carriers revised filings upward after the initial submission: Celtic went from a requested 18.7% to an approved 38.6%.
| Illinois — 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2026) | $646 |
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2025) | $474 |
| Year-over-year change | +36.3% |
| Approved average rate increase | +28.8% |
| Versus the national benchmark ($625) | +3% |
| Rank among your 21 licensed states | 15 of 21 |
| Counties | 102 |
| Carriers on the exchange | 6 |
| Exchange | Get Covered Illinois (state-run since 2026) |
| Carrier | Network | Members | 2026 approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambetter (Celtic) | — | — | +38.6% |
| Molina Healthcare | — | — | +21.5% |
| UnitedHealthcare | — | — | +20.8% |
| Oscar | — | — | +10.4% |
Three carriers left the Illinois individual market for 2026 — Aetna, Health Alliance Medical Plans and Quartz Health — so the county-level choice set narrowed in much of the state.
Sources: Illinois Department of Insurance 2026 rate approvals, finalized September 8, 2025. KFF, “Marketplace Average Benchmark Premiums,” 2026. Benchmark is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan for a 40-year-old, weighted by plan selections.
Low claim volume and a younger buyer usually favor a high-deductible plan paired with an HSA.
Occupational context: Extreme seasonal stress load; sedentary strain.
To be clear about what this does and does not affect: a Illinois carrier cannot ask your occupation, cannot charge a tax preparer more than anyone else of the same age in the same ZIP, and cannot exclude a condition you already have. Occupation only tells you which plan structure to shop for.
Ranked on the benchmark premium, the one measure published on the same basis for every state. Cheaper: North Carolina ($638), Utah ($640), Alabama ($645). More expensive: South Dakota ($655), Texas ($661), Kansas ($670).
You buy where you live, not where you work, so treat this as context rather than a shopping list. A genuine move does open a special enrollment period.
Expense categories that typically apply to this trade: Software, PTIN, E&O insurance, CE credits. Health premiums are generally deductible above the line under IRC §162(l) when no employer plan is available to you or a spouse. The deduction lowers your AGI, and AGI sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other — worth raising with your CPA before you enroll rather than after.
Illinois’s 2026 benchmark premium is $646 a month for a 40-year-old. The national benchmark is $625, so Illinois sits above average.
The 2026 benchmark premium in Illinois is $646 per month for a 40-year-old, up from $474 in 2025. That is full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
Carriers in Illinois were approved for an average increase of 28.8%. Filings across the country cited the expiry of the enhanced federal premium tax credits at the end of 2025, rising medical and drug costs, and expectations that healthier people would drop coverage.
No. Exchange plans are guaranteed issue and community rated. Price varies only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size. Occupation is not a rating factor.
No. Illinois runs its own exchange, Get Covered Illinois, state-operated since 2026. You enrolll there rather than on healthcare.gov.
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 Tax Preparers (SOC 13-2082) in Illinois. 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 tax preparer. 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 Illinois specifically — county-level carriers and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Tax Preparers in Illinois and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Because Illinois operates a state-based exchange, its 2027 data is published separately from the federal landscape files. If you are a tax preparer here, the national summaries are usually either late or simply wrong about this state.
Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. Illinois has not finalised, so treat exact local 2027 pricing as unavailable rather than unknown.
The window opens November 1, 2026, and December 15 is the date worth writing down — it is what secures January 1 cover in Illinois and everywhere else. You will find later dates quoted; they stem from a 2025 rule that was vacated in June 2026 and is under appeal.
Illinois publishes its 2027 plan data on its own schedule rather than in the federal files, so the earlier you get a read on your options the less you are relying on national summaries that may not apply here.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
There is no single Illinois price. Enter your ZIP and I will pull what is filed in your county, then work out what help you qualify for.