Richardson's Telecom Corridor has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, and the tech employers clustered along US 75 still hire and shed engineering talent in waves. Add the University of Texas at Dallas on the city's north side and you get a population full of contractors, H-1B families navigating job changes, graduate students, and startup employees whose benefits are only as stable as the runway.
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 Richardson
| 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 |
Independent contractors and consultants in Richardson start from the marketplace benchmark above. Subsidy eligibility tracks projected annual household income and size, and a layoff year often qualifies where a normal year would not. Estimates never guarantee anything; a licensed agent can confirm your actual position.
Averages from federal data and our own client base, not quotes. Your price depends on your age, household, income, and plan choice.
Richardson at a glance
Richardson straddles the Dallas and Collin county line, pairing an established inner-ring suburb with one of the region's original tech employment districts, and UT Dallas has grown into a major research university that feeds the corridor's engineering workforce. The city's international population is among the most diverse in the metro, and coverage questions here often involve family members moving between visa statuses and employer plans.
| Population | County | Metro |
|---|---|---|
| ~119,000 | Dallas (FIPS 48113) | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington |
Two Richardson situations
Wei, 40, firmware engineer laid off with three months' severance. His wife's part-time job carries no benefits and their daughter is in middle school. Job loss opens a Special Enrollment Period for the whole family, and this year's reduced income may qualify them for subsidies that were out of reach last year. COBRA remains the fallback if he expects to be rehired quickly and wants zero network disruption.
Anjali, 26, doctoral student whose fellowship ended. Student coverage stopped with it. Between the fellowship and her first industry job she needs perhaps four months of protection, and a short-term policy prices that bridge cheaply. She is healthy; the underwriting that would trap someone else costs her nothing.
Where the Texas rules come from
The 36-month figure on this page comes from Texas Insurance Code chapter 1509: initial terms under 12 months, total duration up to 36 months, or as the Texas Department of Insurance puts it, up to 3 years. A 2024 federal rule tried to shorten these products nationally and is currently not being enforced per the August 7, 2025 tri-agency statement. State statute is what binds the contract you sign.
Texas did not expand Medicaid, so adults under the federal poverty level without a traditional Medicaid category sit in the coverage gap, ineligible for both Medicaid and marketplace subsidies. A household living on a graduate stipend can brush against that line, and children's Medicaid and CHIP eligibility runs on more generous thresholds, so families should check each member separately.
Enrollment for Texas runs on HealthCare.gov from November 1 through 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.