Downtown St. Petersburg has spent fifteen years turning itself into a small-business city: galleries, breweries, marketing shops, and a dense cluster of solo professionals working from waterfront coffee shops. Businesses that size rarely offer group health plans. The individual market carries an unusually large share of this city, which makes Florida's plan rules worth understanding in detail.
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 St. Petersburg
| 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 |
The self-employed crowd that defines this city starts from the marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility depends on projected household income and size for the year; an estimate is not a promise, and a licensed agent can run your specific numbers.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
St. Petersburg at a glance
St. Petersburg is the largest city in Pinellas County and the second anchor of the Tampa Bay metro, with an economy weighted toward health care, marine science around its port and university campus, and a fast-growing downtown of small firms. Its arts reputation, led by the Dali Museum and the Central Avenue corridor, has pulled in a younger self-employed population alongside the retirees the city was once known for.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~258,000 | Pinellas (FIPS 12103) | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater |
Three St. Petersburg situations
Jade, 31, tattoo artist renting a chair on Central Avenue. Her income is decent but variable. A marketplace plan with a projected-income subsidy fits, and she should update the marketplace mid-year if bookings surge, to avoid repaying subsidy at tax time.
Owen, 55, sold his charter fishing business. He has 30 months until a corporate job with benefits starts, a date already contracted. Healthy and certain of his timeline, he is the textbook candidate for an extended short-term plan held at one underwritten rate until the job begins.
Renee, 64, gallery owner with arthritis. She is one year from Medicare. Underwritten coverage would exclude the arthritis, so a marketplace plan bridges the final year with her condition fully covered.
How Florida's rules work
Florida wrote its short-term rules into statute: Fla. Stat. 627.6426 allows initial terms under 12 months and total duration up to 36 months with renewals. State law is the binding constraint, and the 2024 federal rule that would have shortened these plans is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement. Practically, that means a healthy St. Petersburg buyer can lock an underwritten rate for up to three years, while anyone with a meaningful medical history is better served on the marketplace, where conditions cannot be excluded.
Florida did not expand Medicaid. Adults under the federal poverty level without a qualifying category can land in the coverage gap, with no subsidy path. For everyone else, HealthCare.gov open enrollment runs November 1 through January 15, and qualifying events open Special Enrollment Periods the rest of the year.
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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.