Shreveport sits closer to Dallas than to New Orleans, and its economy reflects that borderland position: Barksdale Air Force Base across the river in Bossier City, riverfront casinos, a medical school and hospital cluster, and a long history of energy work in the Haynesville Shale country to the south. Casino floors and gas fields both hire in patterns that leave plenty of workers without group benefits, which keeps the individual coverage market busy in Caddo Parish.
The rules here
| Max initial term (short-term) | No separate state cap; set by plan design |
| Max total duration | Up to 36 months, under current federal non-enforcement |
| Products available | ACA marketplace, short-term, extended short-term, fixed indemnity, supplemental |
| Exchange type | Federal marketplace (HealthCare.gov) |
| Medicaid expansion | Yes |
What's available in Shreveport
| Coverage line | Available here | Key limit | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACA marketplace plans | Yes | Open enrollment or a qualifying event | ACA plans |
| Short-term medical | Yes | Term set by plan design | Short-term |
| Extended short-term (multi-year) | Yes | Up to 36 months while federal non-enforcement holds | 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 Louisiana
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) | $759 avg. | State average, before tax credits (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| ACA marketplace (after average subsidy) | $82 after credit | State average, after the average tax credit, among subsidized enrollees (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| Employer coverage (single / family) | $680 / $1932 single / family | State average total monthly premium, single / family; employee pays about $169/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 | $242.54 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Louisiana with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Accident | $44.20 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Louisiana with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
If you work for yourself in Shreveport, the individual marketplace benchmark above is your reference point. Subsidies rise and fall with projected household income and size; an estimate is not an approval, and a licensed agent can check where your household actually lands.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Shreveport at a glance
Shreveport is the hub of the Ark-La-Tex, the three-state corner where Louisiana meets Arkansas and Texas, and its LSU Health medical school makes it the health care center for a large rural region. Gaming, the Air Force presence in Bossier City, and natural gas activity in the Haynesville formation round out an economy where project work and shift work are the norm.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~187,600 | Caddo Parish (FIPS 22017) | Shreveport-Bossier City |
Three Shreveport situations
Latoya, 41, casino dealer between properties. She left one gaming floor for a better shift at another, with a six week gap and no COBRA worth the price. A short-term plan written for a brief term covered the gap for less than a single COBRA month. She knew it excluded her prior conditions and treated it purely as gap insurance.
Chuck, 48, Haynesville wireline contractor. Healthy, high but lumpy income, no employer plan since 2019. He runs an extended short-term contract, up to 36 months under current federal policy, and pairs it with an accident supplement given the physical nature of the work.
Deb, 62, widowed seamstress with rheumatoid arthritis. Her medications would never survive underwriting, so the marketplace is her lane. Modest income earned her a large subsidy, and her plan covers the specialist visits at the medical school clinics.
How Louisiana's rules work
No Louisiana statute caps short-term duration, so plans up to 36 months are on the market in Shreveport. That length exists only under current federal non-enforcement: the 2024 federal rule limiting these plans is not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement, and if that posture changes, so could the longest terms. State law is silent, federal policy is the variable, and buyers deserve that stated plainly.
Louisiana's Medicaid expansion means low-income adults in Caddo Parish qualify on income alone. Between expansion and marketplace subsidies, most Shreveport households have at least one subsidized or free pathway, which was not true a decade ago.
Enrollment goes through HealthCare.gov: November 1 through January 15, with Special Enrollment Periods for qualifying events.
Ready to compare your options? A licensed Louisiana agent can price your household today. No obligation, ever.
Keep reading — more Louisiana 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 Louisiana, 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 Louisiana, 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.