How Much Does Private Health Insurance Cost?

Ryan Michalek, Licensed Health & Life Insurance Agent, NPN 21043091. Last updated November 8, 2026

What actually drives your premium

Your premium is built from a handful of factors instead of one flat price. Being clear on these is the fastest way to understand your number and where you have room to adjust.

• Your age — premiums generally rise as you get older, which is why health insurance for early retirees (55 to 64) typically costs the most
• Where you live — rates and available plans vary by state and county
• Who's covered — just you, a couple, or a whole family
• Plan type and network — richer benefits and wider networks typically cost more
• Tobacco use — can affect the rate on many plans
• Subsidy eligibility — on the marketplace, your estimated income can lower the net cost

What full price looks like in 2027, state by state

If you earn too much for a subsidy, you pay the marketplace’s full price. Here is what the benchmark silver plan costs for 2027 in one major city in each state I’m licensed in, for a healthy non-smoker. These are public marketplace prices for reference, not a quote: your own number depends on your ZIP, age and the plan, and a private plan may compare differently if you qualify.

Benchmark silver = the second-lowest-cost silver marketplace plan in that city’s county. Public marketplace quotes checked October 31, 2026, with no premium tax credit. Georgia’s 2027 prices were checked November 1, 2026. †Kentucky prices are calculated from the state marketplace’s age-35 price using the federal age curve. Florida and Texas show more than one city because prices vary within a state.

Rural full price in 2027

The city prices above can understate what rural buyers pay. In the Plains, the Mountain West, the Midwest and parts of Texas, Florida, North Carolina and West Virginia, many rural areas cost more than the nearest city for the same level of plan, and some are down to one insurer. Here is the benchmark silver plan for a 60-year-old with no subsidy in the rural areas I checked.

It runs the other way in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia: the rural benchmark prices I checked there came in below the big city. In many of those rural areas, the difference is fewer insurers and fewer plans to choose from instead.

Method: one ZIP code per area, with its county confirmed; benchmark silver = the second-lowest-cost silver marketplace plan; age 60, non-smoker, income too high for a subsidy. 2027 marketplace prices checked October 31 and November 1, 2026. “Insurers” counts the companies offering marketplace plans in that county when I checked. These are the 2027 prices shown for open enrollment, and your own price depends on your ZIP, age and plan.

Why gold can cost less than silver in 2027

If you’re paying full price, don’t assume silver is the middle-of-the-road deal. Insurers often price silver plans higher because silver carries the extra cost-sharing help that lower-income enrollees get, a practice called “silver loading.” When you get no subsidy, that can leave a gold plan, with a lower deductible, costing less than the benchmark silver.

In the 2027 prices I checked, the least expensive gold plan cost less than the benchmark silver for a 60-year-old in 17 of the 30 cities where both were available. A few examples, per month:

• Charleston, West Virginia: gold about $272 less than benchmark silver
• Cheyenne, Wyoming: about $229 less
• Little Rock, Arkansas: about $208 less
• Billings, Montana: about $187 less
• Houston, Texas: about $151 less
• Tampa, Florida: about $107 less

It flips in other places, and the network and doctors matter as much as the price. If you get a subsidy, the math is different, because the subsidy is tied to silver. The point is simply to compare every metal level side by side before you renew, which is exactly what I do with you.

Cheapest gold vs. second-lowest-cost silver marketplace plan, age 60, non-smoker, no subsidy; public marketplace quotes checked October 31, 2026. Your own prices depend on ZIP, age and plan.

What a year of coverage really costs: the quiet year and the bad year

A monthly price is how plans are sold, but a year is how they're lived. So when someone asks me what private health insurance prices look like, I give them two numbers: what they'll pay if nothing happens, and the most they could pay if a lot does.

• The quiet year. In the middle of the age-60 column above, a benchmark silver plan runs about $1,456 a month, or about $17,470 over twelve months before any care. At 30, the middle of the column comes to about $7,300 a year.
• The bad year. For 2027, an ACA-compliant plan's in-network out-of-pocket maximum can be no higher than $12,000 for one person or $24,000 for a family (CMS, January 29, 2026), and many plans set a lower limit. Add that ceiling to the premium, and the same 60-year-old's worst in-network year tops out around $29,500.
• The private comparison. A medically underwritten private plan is priced on its own terms: health questions decide approval and the rate, so approval isn't automatic, and some plans pay set amounts toward care instead of running a deductible. Lay its quiet-year and bad-year numbers out the same way, because a lower premium with weaker limits can lose in the one year that matters.

Then the real question is which pair of numbers you can live with, and that's a better question than which premium is lowest. Where a gold plan costs less than silver, as it does in many of the cities above, it can come out ahead on both numbers at once.

Middle values are the medians of the 34 city prices in the state table (public quotes checked October 31 and November 1, 2026, no subsidy). The out-of-pocket ceiling covers in-network essential health benefits. Not a quote.

How to get a number that's actually yours

As an independent broker, I pull quotes across carriers and both private and marketplace paths, then walk you through the trade-offs, since a lower premium often means a higher deductible, and the smallest premium isn't always the better value. There's no fee to work with me in any of the 31 states, and you decide whether to enroll.

For a real number built on your own details, talk to an independent broker in the Tampa area who can price your actual options.