Every weekday morning, State Highway 288 fills with Pearland residents heading north to the Texas Medical Center. It is one of the stranger facts of this suburb that thousands of its people work in health care yet still face coverage gaps of their own: nurses between hospital contracts, physicians in private practice, and medical office staff whose small employers offer nothing.
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 Pearland
| 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 Pearland professionals, from private-practice clinicians to consultants, start with the individual marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility follows projected household income and size for the year and is never guaranteed by an estimate. A licensed agent can confirm 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.
Pearland at a glance
Pearland has been one of the Houston area's fastest growing suburbs for two decades, spreading west from its old town core along Broadway toward Shadow Creek Ranch, with Brazoria County schools and short commutes to the Texas Medical Center pulling in young families. The population skews educated and insured, which makes the uninsured stretches people do hit, between jobs or in early practice years, feel unfamiliar and urgent.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~126,000 | Brazoria (FIPS 48039) | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land |
Two Pearland situations
Dr. Amara, 36, launching a solo pediatric practice. She left a hospital system and its group plan behind. COBRA continues her old coverage at full cost while the practice ramps; a marketplace plan through her Special Enrollment Period may cost less, and her first-year practice income could qualify her for a subsidy she would never expect as an employed physician.
Kevin, 43, medical device sales on straight commission. His company classifies him as an independent contractor. Healthy and rarely at a doctor's office, he compares an unsubsidized marketplace plan against an extended short-term policy that Texas allows to run up to 36 months. The underwritten plan costs less each month and covers less when things go wrong; that trade is his to make with full information.
Texas law, without the fog
Chapter 1509 of the Texas Insurance Code permits short-term plans with an initial term under 12 months and a total duration up to 36 months. The Texas Department of Insurance describes the allowance as up to 3 years. The 2024 federal rule that would trim these plans is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement, and Texas statute is the binding constraint either way.
Texas did not expand Medicaid, which leaves adults under the federal poverty level with no traditional Medicaid category in the coverage gap: no Medicaid, no subsidy. Pearland's median incomes put most readers of this page above that line, but a practice startup year or a commission drought can drop a projection fast. Full-year income is what counts.
Enrollment runs through HealthCare.gov, November 1 to January 15, with Special Enrollment Periods after qualifying events.
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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.