Benchmark $414/mo · +13.4% approved · Maryland Health Connection
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A 40-year-old virtual assistant in Maryland faces a benchmark premium of $414/month for 2026, up from $365 in 2025. That is 34% below the national benchmark of $625. Carriers were approved for an average increase of +13.4%.
There is no CMS plan-level file for Maryland, because Maryland operates Maryland Health Connection instead of healthcare.gov and its issuers file with the state rather than through the federal platform. That is a real gap in the public data, and it is the reason this page leads with approved rate changes and market concentration rather than a county premium grid.
Maryland has the second-cheapest benchmark premium in the country at $414, behind New Hampshire, and the smallest approved increase of these six at 13.4%. Its 1332 State Innovation Waiver reinsurance program, approved through 2028, keeps rates an estimated 30–35% below where they would otherwise sit — 2026 rates are still 6% below pre-waiver 2018 rates.
| Maryland — 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2026) | $414 |
| Benchmark premium, age 40 (2025) | $365 |
| Year-over-year change | +13.4% |
| Approved average rate increase | +13.4% |
| Versus the national benchmark ($625) | -34% |
| Rank among your 21 licensed states | 1 of 21 |
| Counties | 24 |
| Carriers on the exchange | 7 |
| Exchange | Maryland Health Connection (state-run since 2014) |
| Carrier | Network | Members | 2026 approved |
|---|---|---|---|
| CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | 122,623 | +13.6% |
| Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | 93,465 | +15.2% |
| Kaiser | HMO | 49,427 | +9.8% |
| CareFirst CFMI | PPO | 13,412 | +13.1% |
| CareFirst GHMSI | PPO | 8,906 | +13.1% |
| Aetna Health | HMO | 4,939 | not filed for 2026 |
| Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | 1,417 | +10.0% |
| Metal | Carrier | Network | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $295 | $339 | +14.9% |
| Bronze | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $456 | $510 | +11.8% |
| Bronze | Kaiser | HMO | $287 | $328 | +14.3% |
| Bronze | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $261 | $283 | +8.4% |
| Bronze | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $304 | $332 | +9.2% |
| Silver | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $355 | $371 | +4.5% |
| Silver | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $510 | $585 | +14.7% |
| Silver | Kaiser | HMO | $319 | $344 | +7.8% |
| Silver | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $302 | $342 | +13.2% |
| Silver | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $397 | $437 | +10.1% |
| Gold | CareFirst BlueChoice | HMO | $398 | $452 | +13.6% |
| Gold | CareFirst GHMSI/CFMI | PPO | $574 | $649 | +13.1% |
| Gold | Kaiser | HMO | $390 | $414 | +6.2% |
| Gold | Optimum Choice (UHC) | HMO | $340 | $391 | +15.0% |
| Gold | Wellpoint Maryland | HMO | $368 | $404 | +9.8% |
Maryland is the only one of these six states that publishes actual approved dollar premiums by carrier and metal tier.
CareFirst GHMSI and CFMI are the only PPO options; every other carrier is HMO. CareFirst holds 49.3% of the market, UnitedHealthcare 31.8%, Kaiser 16.8%.
Sources: Maryland Insurance Administration, “2026 ACA Approved Rates,” September 19, 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: Repetitive stress; sedentary strain.
None of that changes your price. Plans in Maryland are community rated — premium varies by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size only. Occupation cannot be used to rate, decline or exclude you.
Ranked on the benchmark premium, the one measure published on the same basis for every state. Nothing on this list is cheaper. More expensive: Virginia ($455), Indiana ($474), Nevada ($497).
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, hardware, internet, home office. 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.
4 carriers offer individual plans on Maryland Health Connection for 2026: CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealthcare (Optimum Choice), Wellpoint Maryland. Availability varies by county.
The 2026 benchmark premium in Maryland is $414 per month for a 40-year-old, up from $365 in 2025. That is full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
Carriers in Maryland were approved for an average increase of 13.4%. 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. Maryland runs its own exchange, Maryland Health Connection, state-operated since 2014. 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 is below the cliff in all 21 states reported.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (SOC 43-6014) in Maryland. 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 virtual assistant. 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 Maryland specifically — county-level carriers and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Virtual Assistants in Maryland and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Because Maryland operates a state-based exchange, its 2027 data is published separately from the federal landscape files. If you are a virtual assistant here, the national summaries are usually either late or simply wrong about this state.
Nobody can tell you your 2027 Maryland 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.
The window opens November 1, 2026, and December 15 is the date worth writing down — it is what secures January 1 cover in Maryland 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.
Maryland 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:
Rates for Virtual Assistants in Maryland are set by county, not by occupation. Start with your ZIP and I will show you the plans actually filed where you live.