More truck freight crosses at Laredo than at any other port of entry in the country. That trade economy runs on owner-operators, customs brokers, freight forwarders, and warehouse crews, and a large share of those workers buy their own health coverage because no employer plan comes with the work. Texas law gives them a wider set of tools than buyers in most states get.
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 Laredo
| 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 |
If you are self-employed in Laredo, the individual marketplace benchmark above is your starting point. Whether a subsidy applies depends on your household income and size for the year. Estimates are not guarantees; a licensed agent can check your actual eligibility.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Laredo at a glance
Laredo's economy is built around cross-border trade with Mexico through the World Trade Bridge and the surrounding logistics corridor, and self-employment rates here run high because so much of that work is contracted rather than salaried. The city is the seat of Webb County and the center of its own metro area on the Rio Grande.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~255,000 | Webb (FIPS 48479) | Laredo |
Two Laredo situations
Héctor, 44, owner-operator running loads to San Antonio and Monterrey. No employer, no group plan, and income that swings with freight rates. He missed open enrollment, so his near-term options are a qualifying event or a short-term plan as a bridge. Texas lets that bridge run up to 36 months, but his diabetes would go through underwriting and would typically be excluded, which makes the marketplace at the next window the better destination for him.
Alma, 31, customs brokerage clerk whose employer dropped group coverage. Losing employer coverage is a qualifying event, so she has a Special Enrollment Period to pick a marketplace plan. Depending on her income, subsidies may bring the premium well under the sticker price in the table above.
How Texas regulates these plans
Texas Insurance Code chapter 1509 sets the boundaries: an initial short-term term under 12 months and a total duration of up to 36 months, which the Texas Department of Insurance describes as up to 3 years. Because that is state statute, the 2024 federal rule that would have cut these plans down does not change anything here; that federal rule is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement.
The harder Texas fact is Medicaid. The state did not expand it, so adults with income below the federal poverty level who do not fit a traditional Medicaid category can end up in the coverage gap with no marketplace subsidy available. In a border economy with seasonal and cash-heavy work, this hits real households in Laredo, and the honest answer is sometimes a limited-benefit product plus a plan to revisit eligibility when income changes.
Enrollment runs through HealthCare.gov, November 1 to January 15.
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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.