Clearwater's beach economy employs thousands in hotels, restaurants, and charter operations, and hospitality work in Pinellas County rarely comes with a group health plan. Add the seasonal rhythm of the tourist calendar and you get a city where coverage needs shift with the months as much as with the job.
The rules here
| Max initial term (short-term) | Less than 12 months |
| Max total duration | 36 months (Fla. Stat. 627.6426) |
| Products available | ACA marketplace, short-term, extended short-term, fixed indemnity, supplemental |
| Exchange type | Federal marketplace (HealthCare.gov) |
| Medicaid expansion | No |
What's available in Clearwater
| Coverage line | Available here | Key limit | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace plans | Yes | Open enrollment or a qualifying event | ACA plans |
| Short-term medical | Yes | Initial term under 12 months | Short-term |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | Yes | Up to 36 months total | Extended plans |
| Fixed indemnity | Yes | Pays set cash amounts, not a substitute for major medical | Fixed indemnity |
| Supplemental (accident, critical illness, dental, vision) | Yes | Pairs with other coverage | Accident · Critical illness · Dental · Vision |
Short-term and fixed indemnity plans are not ACA compliant and do not count as minimum essential coverage. They are medically underwritten and typically exclude pre-existing conditions.
What one person pays for coverage in Florida
Average monthly premiums for individual coverage. Family pricing differs; quotes are individual.
| Coverage type | Monthly premium (individual) | What that number is |
|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace (before subsidy) | $806 avg. | State average, before tax credits (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| ACA marketplace (after average subsidy) | $62 after credit | State average, after the average tax credit, among subsidized enrollees (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| Employer coverage (single / family) | $751 / $2067 single / family | State average total monthly premium, single / family; employee pays about $148/mo toward single coverage (MEPS-IC, 2024).2 |
| Medicaid | $0 or nominal for those who qualify | Program design, not an average; eligibility is income-based5 |
| Fixed indemnity | $211.93 mean | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Florida with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Accident | sec-39.04 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Florida with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Critical Illness | sec-34.44 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Florida with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Dental | $46.00 mean | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Florida with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
Self-employed Clearwater residents, from charter captains to salon owners, start at the individual marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility follows household income and size for the year; nothing here is a guarantee, and a licensed agent can pin down your actual number.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Clearwater at a glance
Clearwater occupies the Gulf side of Pinellas County, tied to St. Petersburg and Tampa by the bay bridges, with tourism and services carrying much of the local payroll. The county is densely built out, so growth here looks like turnover rather than new rooftops, and the individual insurance market turns over right along with it.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~117,000 | Pinellas (FIPS 12103) | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater |
Three Clearwater situations
Sofia, 31, restaurant manager on the beach. Her employer covers managers but drops hours in the off-season, and one slow summer she lost eligibility. That loss opened a Special Enrollment Period. She used it for a marketplace plan rather than a short-term product because she takes a daily medication underwriting would flag.
Gene, 55, runs a fishing charter out of the marina. Healthy, self-employed, income too high for subsidies most years. He holds an extended short-term plan, understanding it can run up to 36 months in Florida, and layers an accident supplement because his work is physical and offshore.
Tasha, 26, freelance photographer. She aged off her parent's plan in March, a qualifying event with a deadline. Her income is modest, so a subsidized marketplace plan probably costs less than any underwritten quote. If she lets the window lapse, a short-term plan can bridge to open enrollment without locking her into anything long.
How Florida's rules work
Florida allows short-term plans an initial term under 12 months and a total duration up to 36 months under Fla. Stat. 627.6426. State statute controls here, and the 2024 federal rule that would have trimmed these plans back is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement. Nothing about that federal posture changes what Florida law permits.
Two more Florida facts shape Clearwater shopping. The state did not expand Medicaid, so adults below the poverty line without dependent children can land in the coverage gap with no subsidy and no Medicaid. And Florida runs on HealthCare.gov, where open enrollment is November 1 through January 15 and Special Enrollment Periods handle midyear changes.
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Keep reading — more Florida guides
Premium data methodology. 1 Marketplace premium averages reflect the average monthly premium before advance premium tax credits, the average monthly premium after advance premium tax credits among subsidized enrollees, and the percentage of enrollees receiving advance premium tax credits, for Florida, as reported in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Marketplace Open Enrollment Period Public Use Files, 2026 plan year, available at cms.gov. Figures are statewide averages across all metal tiers, ages, and household sizes; your premium will differ based on your age, household, income, county, and plan selection.
2 Employer coverage averages reflect the average total monthly premium for single and family coverage at private-sector establishments in Florida, including both employer and employee contributions, as reported in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component (MEPS-IC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2024 tables, available at meps.ahrq.gov. Employee contribution figure reflects the average employee share of the single-coverage premium. Employer plan costs vary by employer, plan design, and firm size.
3 Client averages are calculated from GetHealthPlans.com (MTG Insurance Agency LLC) internal book-of-business records as of July 15, 2026 and reflect the median or mean monthly premium, as labeled, among active policies providing individual coverage (one covered person) of the stated product type held by our clients residing in the stated state or, where labeled agency-wide, across all states in which we operate. Family and multi-person policies are excluded so that figures reflect what one person pays. Figures are shown only for states and products where our records include a sufficient number of active individual policies to report a meaningful average, with a minimum of ten; combinations below that threshold are not shown. Where a figure is labeled "median," half of our client policies in that group pay less and half pay more. Our client base reflects the products we sell, skews toward medically underwritten coverage, and may not represent all buyers or all plans available in a state. These figures are historical averages of premiums actually paid by our clients, are not quotes, offers, or projections, and are not statements of what any individual will pay. Individual premiums are determined by the insurer at application based on age, location, term length, benefit selections, and underwriting outcomes.
4 No federal or state agency publishes average premium data for short-term limited duration insurance or fixed indemnity insurance. Where we do not display a client-base figure for these products, it is because we do not have sufficient policy volume in that state to report a meaningful average. Short-term and fixed indemnity products are medically underwritten, are not major medical coverage, are not required to cover pre-existing conditions or essential health benefits, and do not constitute minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
5 Medicaid and CHIP are public programs, not insurance products sold by this agency. Premiums are $0 or nominal for those who qualify; eligibility is determined by your state based on income, household size, and other factors. The figure shown describes program design, not an average. Contact your state Medicaid agency or HealthCare.gov to check eligibility.