Health insurance in Florida when you buy it yourself

The two kinds of coverage we compare

On one short form you see two very different products side by side. Most people should look at the first one before anything else.

• ACA Marketplace plans, also called Obamacare. This is full health insurance. Pre-existing conditions are covered, there are no health questions, and every plan has a yearly out-of-pocket maximum. Your estimated tax credit is already taken off the price we show you.
• UnitedHealthcare Health ProtectorGuard (HPG), a fixed indemnity plan offered through UnitedHealthOne. It pays set cash amounts for covered services, like $80 per doctor visit on Select 2000 or $150 per visit on Premier 5000, no matter what the bill is.

These two don't do the same job. An ACA plan protects you from a huge bill. HPG helps with smaller, predictable costs and pays a fixed amount toward bigger ones. It has no out-of-pocket maximum, it is not minimum essential coverage, it asks health questions, and what it pays can be far below what a hospital charges. Our ACA vs fixed indemnity comparison walks through real examples so you can see the gap.

Who buys individual health insurance

Individual coverage is for people who don't get health insurance through a job, Medicare or Medicaid. In Florida that covers a lot of ground:

• Self-employed people, freelancers, gig drivers and small business owners without a group plan
• Families where no parent has job coverage, or where adding the family at work costs too much
• Early retirees who stopped working before 65 and need coverage until Medicare
• People between jobs, and young adults turning 26 who are coming off a parent's plan

We quote ages 18 to 64. At 65 most people move to Medicare, which we don't sell here. If your employer offers you coverage that counts as affordable under the law, you generally can't get a Marketplace tax credit, so check that offer first.

How to pick a plan

There's no single best plan. There's the plan that fits your income, your health and your doctors. Work through it in this order:

1. Start with your income. Your expected 2027 household income decides whether you get a tax credit and how big it is. Under the law as it stands, there's no credit above 400% of the poverty level, which is $63,840 for one person and $132,000 for a family of four. Our subsidy guide explains the math.
2. Think about the bad year, not only the normal one. If a hospital stay or a cancer diagnosis would wreck your budget, you need a plan with an out-of-pocket maximum. That means an ACA plan.
3. Check doctors and hospitals. Most Florida Marketplace plans are HMOs with a set network. Look up your doctors, your hospital and your prescriptions in each plan's own directory before you choose.
4. Compare the yearly total. Add twelve months of premium to what you'd likely spend on deductibles and copays. A low monthly price can cost more over a year if you see doctors often.

If money is tight, our page on cheap health insurance in Florida goes through the lowest cost options honestly, including when a Bronze plan makes more sense than a fixed indemnity plan.

When you can sign up

ACA plans have a yearly window. Open Enrollment for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 to January 15, 2027. Enroll by December 15 and your plan starts January 1. Enroll after that and it starts February 1.

1. November 1, 2026Open Enrollment opens
2. December 15, 2026Last day to pick a plan that starts January 1
3. January 15, 2027Open Enrollment ends. Plans picked from Dec 16 start February 1

After that you need a Special Enrollment Period (a life event like losing coverage, moving, marriage or a baby). Medicaid and Florida KidCare take applications any time.

Source: HealthCare.gov dates for 2027 coverage

After January 15 you need a Special Enrollment Period. That usually comes from a life event, like losing job coverage, moving, getting married or having a baby, and it gives you about 60 days to enroll.

Fixed indemnity plans like HPG don't follow these dates. You can apply any month of the year, though health questions apply. The details are in our Open Enrollment guide.

Insurance companies selling in Florida

In 2026, 13 insurance companies sold Marketplace plans somewhere in Florida. Florida Blue sold in all 67 counties and Ambetter Health in 63. Several others sell in only a few counties, so your choices depend on where you live.

The table below comes from the 2026 federal plan files. The 2027 lists can change. Your quote always shows the current plans for your ZIP code.

Source: CMS Marketplace public use files, plan year 2026. Lists for 2027 can change; your quote shows the current plans.

More companies in your county usually means more choice of networks and prices. Fewer companies means it matters even more to check that your doctors are in the plan you pick.

Find your county

Companies, networks and prices change from one county to the next. Each county page lists the companies that sold Marketplace plans there in 2026, the local ZIP codes and fixed indemnity prices. Start with the Florida county index or pick yours here.

• Miami-Dade CountyMiami, Hialeah, Miami Gardens9 ACA companies (2026)
• Broward CountyFort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines10 ACA companies (2026)
• Palm Beach CountyWest Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach9 ACA companies (2026)
• Orange CountyOrlando, Winter Park, Apopka10 ACA companies (2026)
• Hillsborough CountyTampa, Brandon, Riverview7 ACA companies (2026)
• Duval CountyJacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach5 ACA companies (2026)
• Pinellas CountySt. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo6 ACA companies (2026)
• Lee CountyFort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres5 ACA companies (2026)
• Polk CountyLakeland, Winter Haven, Bartow6 ACA companies (2026)
• Brevard CountyMelbourne, Palm Bay, Titusville7 ACA companies (2026)
• Volusia CountyDaytona Beach, Deltona, DeLand7 ACA companies (2026)
• Osceola CountyKissimmee, St. Cloud, Celebration9 ACA companies (2026)

How we help, and what we are not

You enter your ZIP, date of birth, sex, tobacco use, household size and income. Prices show up right away. You don't need an account or a phone number to see them.

If you choose an ACA plan, you finish the Marketplace application on HealthSherpa, a private enrollment site connected to the federal Marketplace. HPG prices are live quotes from UnitedHealthOne, and a plan explainer shows what each plan would pay for a checkup, a sick visit, an ER visit or a hospital stay. The hospital indemnity page goes deeper on that last one.

Licensed agents help for free, and the chat on the site answers in English or Spanish. We are not a government website and we are not HealthCare.gov. Quick answers to common questions are on our health insurance FAQ.