Few cities have a workforce as self-employed as Fort Lauderdale's. The yachting and marine trades alone support thousands of captains, crew, brokers, and repair specialists who bill by the job, and the tourism economy around Port Everglades and the beach adds thousands more without group benefits. This is an individual-market town, and Florida gives that market more room than most states.
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 Fort Lauderdale
| 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 |
For the self-employed majority here, the individual marketplace benchmark above is the reference price before any subsidy. Eligibility for that subsidy rides on household income and size for the year, and estimates are never guarantees. A licensed agent can turn the estimate into a real quote.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Fort Lauderdale at a glance
Fort Lauderdale is Broward County's seat and commercial center, with Port Everglades, a busy cruise and cargo port, and a marine industry dense enough that the city is often called the yachting capital of the world. Tourism, aviation, and professional services round out an economy where 1099 income is everywhere.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~183,000 | Broward (FIPS 12011) | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach |
Three Fort Lauderdale situations
Captain Reyes, 45, delivers yachts up and down the coast. Months at sea, income in irregular chunks, no employer. He carries an extended short-term plan on a clean health record, valid for up to 36 months under Florida law, plus an accident supplement given the work. Every open enrollment he compares that setup against a marketplace plan, because one new diagnosis changes which product is cheap.
Lena, 52, boat upholstery business owner in the marine district. Her rheumatoid arthritis rules out underwritten products; short-term plans typically exclude pre-existing conditions. A marketplace plan covers her treatment without exclusions, and in years when her business income dips, the subsidy math swings hard in her favor.
Marcus, 28, bartends on Las Olas and crews charters on weekends. Two jobs, zero benefits. His combined income likely sits in prime subsidy territory, so a marketplace plan may cost him less than the short-term quote he found online. He checks both, then verifies his clinic takes the plan before paying a first premium.
How Florida's rules work
Fla. Stat. 627.6426 lets Florida short-term plans run an initial term under 12 months with renewals up to 36 months total. The statute, not federal rulemaking, sets the boundary here. The stricter 2024 federal rule is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement, and Florida's law stands on its own regardless.
Florida also declined to expand Medicaid, which leaves a coverage gap: adults below the federal poverty level without dependent children may qualify for neither Medicaid nor marketplace subsidies. In a cash-heavy service economy like this one, documenting projected income accurately is worth real money, because subsidies key off what you expect to earn, not what last year's tax return says. Florida enrolls through HealthCare.gov, November 1 through January 15.
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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.