Ranked 10 of 17 states · median $773/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old ux designer in Tennessee pays a median $773/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 10th of 17 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $646 from Ambetter of Tennessee in Fayette. On cheapest Silver at age 27, Tennessee ranks 16 of 17 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.
Two things get confused here constantly. Risk exposure decides what coverage you should buy. It does not decide what you are charged — Tennessee carriers rate on age, ZIP, tobacco and family size, full stop. A ux designer with a bad back and a healthy 40-year-old office worker in the same county see the same number.
Premium is set by rating area, so a ux designer in one Tennessee 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson | $669 | Ambetter of Tennessee | $6,000 | 4 |
| Sevier | $669 | Ambetter of Tennessee | $6,000 | 4 |
| Sullivan | $678 | BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee | $8,100 | 4 |
| Hamilton | $698 | Ambetter of Tennessee | $6,000 | 5 |
| Benton | $701 | BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee | $8,100 | 5 |
| Hardeman | $701 | BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee | $8,100 | 5 |
The spread across just these six is $32/month — $385 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $646 to $1,001. Coverage by County publishes all 95 Tennessee counties individually.
| Tennessee — the age curve | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cheapest Silver @27 | $530 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $646 |
| Cheapest Silver @60 | $1,372 |
| Cheapest Bronze @40 | $466 — BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee |
| Bronze deductible | $10,600 |
| Lowest deductible in state | $500 |
A 27-year-old ux designer in Tennessee starts at $530; the same plan class at 60 starts at $1,372 — 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. 5,239 plan records across 95 Tennessee counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: South Dakota ($725), Oklahoma ($731), Kansas ($765). More expensive: Mississippi ($773), Florida ($789), Utah ($805).
Side-by-side: Tennessee vs Oklahoma · Tennessee vs Kansas · Tennessee vs Mississippi · Tennessee vs Florida
This only matters if you can actually choose — you buy in the state where you live, not where you work. If you are a ux designer who moved this year, that move is a qualifying life event and opens a special enrollment period.
Expense categories that typically apply to this trade: Software, hardware, research tools, home office. Premiums are generally deductible above the line under IRC §162(l) when no employer plan is available to you or your spouse — a question for your CPA, not your agent.
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 Web and Digital Interface Designers in Tennessee is $61,590 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $38,480. The middle half earn $49,560 to $61,590, and the top 10% more than $79,730. BLS counts about 3,470 people doing this work for an employer in Tennessee. 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 Tennessee is $646 per month from Ambetter of Tennessee, with a state median of $773. 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 plans were filed for 2026.
Tennessee ranks 10 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 sits above the cliff in 18 of the 23 states reported and below it in the other 5, 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 Tennessee. 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 2027 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $63,840 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For Tennessee 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 Tennessee and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
One of Tennessee’s 6 carriers is leaving. Cigna exits the individual market entirely on January 1, 2027, so if you are an ux designer 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. Tennessee has finalised: insurers were approved for an average 15.6% increase for 2027. Your own premium still turns on your plan and county.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, Tennessee 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 Tennessee. All 95 counties offer EPO plans only, so care outside the network is effectively emergency-only. If your work as an ux designer 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 now than in the second week of December.
Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will tell you three things:
Coverage for Ux Designers is priced county by county across Tennessee. Enter your ZIP and a licensed agent will show you what is on the table.
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