The Texas Medical Center employs more people than some state capitals, and yet Houston is full of workers with no coverage attached to a paycheck: independent energy consultants, contract engineers riding out a downturn, port and construction crews paid by the job. Texas law gives those households one of the longest short-term runways in the country, and it also leaves one of the largest uninsured populations in the country, so plan selection here carries real stakes.
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 Houston
| 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 Houstonians start from the individual marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility depends on your household income and size for the year; an estimate is not a guarantee, and a licensed agent can run your actual numbers before you commit.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Houston at a glance
Houston anchors the largest medical complex in the world, and health care sits alongside energy, the Port of Houston, and NASA's Johnson Space Center as the metro's economic pillars. The energy sector's boom and bust hiring cycles mean a steady population of engineers and field specialists moving between W-2 jobs, contract work, and self-employment, often with coverage gaps in between.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~2,304,600 | Harris (FIPS 48201) | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land |
Three Houston situations
Omar, 41, laid off from an upstream services firm. His severance includes a COBRA offer he cannot afford on a reduced budget. Losing employer coverage opens a Special Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov, and with a working spouse his household income may still qualify for a subsidy. He compares that against a short-term plan before deciding.
Priya, 34, contract clinical researcher in the Medical Center. She moves between nine-month research contracts with no benefits. An extended short-term plan can hold her underwritten rate for up to 36 months, though she accepts that it will not cover the pre-existing thyroid condition she manages, so she prices a marketplace plan too.
Hector, 55, owner of a four-truck hauling business near the Ship Channel. His income lands below the poverty line on paper in slow years. Texas did not expand Medicaid, so in those years he can fall into the coverage gap with no subsidy available. Careful income projection with an agent matters more for him than plan shopping.
How Texas's rules work
Chapter 1509 of the Texas Insurance Code allows short-term plans with an initial term under 12 months and a total duration of 36 months, which the Texas Department of Insurance describes as up to 3 years. Because that limit is written into state law, it does not move when federal policy shifts. The 2024 federal rule that would have shortened these plans nationally is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement, so the Texas statute is the operative constraint.
The harder Texas fact is Medicaid. The state did not expand the program, so adults earning below the federal poverty level who do not fit a traditional Medicaid category get no marketplace subsidy and no Medicaid eligibility. For those households, honest advice sometimes means acknowledging that fixed indemnity or supplemental products are the only affordable protection, and that these are limited products rather than major medical insurance.
Texas uses HealthCare.gov, with open enrollment running November 1 through January 15.
Ready to compare your options? A licensed Texas agent can quote your household in one call, with no obligation.
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.