Cattle feeding and beef processing drive the Panhandle economy, and Amarillo is where that industry banks, ships, and hires. Add the Pantex plant east of town and a growing wind energy trade, and you get a workforce split between large employers with group benefits and a big population of ranch hands, truckers, and contract workers who buy coverage on their own.
The rules here
| Max initial term (short-term) | Less than 12 months |
| Max total duration | 36 months (Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1509) |
| 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 Amarillo
| 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 Texas
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) | $709 avg. | State average, before tax credits (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| ACA marketplace (after average subsidy) | $41 after credit | State average, after the average tax credit, among subsidized enrollees (CMS Marketplace OEP, 2026).1 |
| Employer coverage (single / family) | $653 / $2009 single / family | State average total monthly premium, single / family; employee pays about $126/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 | $235.39 mean | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Texas with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Accident | $44.20 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Texas with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Critical Illness | $30.72 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Texas with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
| Dental | $46.02 median | Among GetHealthPlans.com clients in Texas with individual coverage, as of July 2026.3 |
Self-employed Amarillo residents start with the individual marketplace benchmark above, then check subsidy eligibility, which turns on household income and size for the year. Nothing about a subsidy is guaranteed until the application runs; an agent can pressure-test your estimate.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Amarillo at a glance
Amarillo is the largest city in the Texas Panhandle and the service center for a cattle-feeding region that supplies a large share of the nation's beef. The city sits on old Route 66 at the crossing of major freight corridors, which keeps trucking and logistics work steady year round.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~200,000 | Potter (FIPS 48375) | Amarillo |
Three Amarillo situations
Tomás, 39, owner-operator hauling cattle. He is on the road most of the month and buys his own coverage. His income disqualifies him from a subsidy in good years. An extended short-term plan locks an underwritten rate for up to 36 months, but he pairs it with an accident supplement because his job carries real injury risk that a cash benefit can cushion.
Kelsey, 26, feedyard office manager whose employer dropped group coverage. Losing that plan is a qualifying event. She has 60 days to pick a marketplace plan through HealthCare.gov, and her salary likely lands her a subsidy that brings the premium down substantially.
Ray and Donna, both 57, wheat farmers north of town. Farm income swings hard. In a high-income year they may buy an underwritten plan to save money; in a low year the marketplace subsidy math flips in their favor. One caution: if a bad year drops them below the poverty line, Texas's coverage gap can leave them with no subsidy at all, so projecting income carefully matters.
How Texas's rules work
Under Texas Insurance Code chapter 1509, short-term plans carry an initial term under 12 months and can run 36 months in total, a limit TDI plainly describes as up to 3 years. That is state statute, not a federal allowance, so it holds regardless of what happens in Washington. For the record, the 2024 federal rule that would have capped these plans at a few months is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement.
Texas also declined to expand Medicaid, which matters in agricultural counties where incomes fluctuate. An adult below the federal poverty level with no dependent children usually gets neither Medicaid nor a marketplace subsidy. That is the coverage gap, and it is worth a conversation with an agent about limited-benefit products and about whether your projected income moves you out of it.
Texas enrolls through HealthCare.gov, November 1 to January 15.
Ready to compare your options? A licensed Texas agent can quote your household in one call. No pressure, no spam.
Keep reading — more Texas 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 Texas, 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 Texas, 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.