Ranked 9 of 15 states · median $765/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old ux designer in Kansas pays a median $765/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 9th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $565 from Oscar in Anderson. On cheapest Silver at age 27, Kansas ranks 11 of 15 for this occupation.
Screen-based work skews younger and healthier, which is exactly the profile a high-deductible plan is built for. The risk is real — you carry the first several thousand dollars yourself — so the tables below show what a healthy buyer pays across the age curve, not just at 40.
Occupational context: Repetitive stress injury and eye strain.
This is background for choosing a plan, not for pricing one. Since 2014 every Kansas 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 ux designer or an accountant. Occupation changes the shopping criteria, nothing else.
Premium is set by rating area, so a ux designer in one Kansas 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trego | $746 | Ambetter from Sunflower | $6,000 | 2 |
| Hamilton | $882 | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas | $3,400 | 1 |
| Stevens | $882 | Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas | $3,400 | 1 |
| Jefferson | $565 | Oscar | $6,000 | 4 |
| Wyandotte | $571 | Oscar | $6,000 | 5 |
| Dickinson | $689 | Ambetter from Sunflower | $6,000 | 3 |
The spread across just these six is $317/month — $3,808 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $565 to $979. Coverage by County publishes all 105 Kansas counties individually.
| Kansas — the age curve | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cheapest Silver @27 | $463 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $565 |
| Cheapest Silver @60 | $1,200 |
| Cheapest Bronze @40 | $442 — UnitedHealthcare |
| Bronze deductible | $10,600 |
| Lowest deductible in state | $500 |
A 27-year-old ux designer in Kansas starts at $463; the same plan class at 60 starts at $1,200 — roughly 2.6× as much. If a Bronze plan here is HSA-qualified, the deduction plus low claim volume usually beats Silver on total annual cost. Confirm HSA eligibility on the plan document, not the metal tier.
Source: CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file. 3,058 plan records across 105 Kansas counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Michigan ($708), South Dakota ($725), Oklahoma ($731). More expensive: Florida ($789), Utah ($805), Texas ($807).
Side-by-side: Kansas vs South Dakota · Kansas vs Oklahoma · Kansas vs Florida · Kansas vs Utah
A caveat on the table above: rating is by residence, not by job site. A ux designer living in Kansas and working across a state line still buys Kansas plans. A genuine permanent move does trigger a special enrollment period, but the plan year restarts with a fresh deductible.
If you file a Schedule C as a ux designer, the categories that usually show up are: Software, hardware, research tools, home office. 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 Kansas is $565 per month from Oscar, with a state median of $765. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
It cannot happen on an exchange plan. Rating in Kansas uses four inputs only: age, ZIP code, tobacco use and how many people are on the policy. Trade, injury history and pre-existing conditions are all excluded from pricing by law.
No. Only EPO plans were filed for 2026.
Kansas ranks 9 of 15 states covered here, at a median $765 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
Above the cliff. At this income a single-person household receives no premium tax credit for 2026 and pays the full premium.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 19 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 2, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Web and Digital Interface Designers (SOC 15-1255) in Kansas. 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 ux designer. 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 Kansas specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Ux Designers in Kansas and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Right now 6 carriers file plans across the 105 counties of Kansas. Participation is reset annually, which is why Ux Designers should check the roster in November rather than assume this year’s options carry over.
Rate filings for 2027 point to roughly a 15% median increase nationally, from −1% at one end to 54% at the other. Kansas 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 Kansas 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.
There is still no PPO on the Kansas marketplace — not in any of its 105 counties. Every plan is an HMO, EPO or POS, which for an ux designer working across a wide area is the binding constraint, not price.
Because Kansas sells no PPO in any of its 105 counties, the thing that will decide your 2027 experience is which network your providers sit in — and that is far easier to check now than during the rush.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Rates for Ux Designers in Kansas are set by county, not by occupation. Start with your ZIP and I will show you the plans actually filed where you live.