Health insurance in Tampa: plans, prices and local help

• 260,235Hillsborough County residents picked a marketplace plan for 2026
• $108average monthly premium in Hillsborough after tax credits, versus $757 before
• 173marketplace plans offered in Hillsborough County for 2026, from 7 insurers

What plans cost in Tampa before any subsidy

These are full monthly prices for a 40 year old, before any tax credit, from the CMS plan year 2026 data for the two counties most Tampa Bay residents live in.

Plan year 2026. 2027 prices publish before open enrollment starts November 1.

Notice that gold is cheaper than the benchmark silver in both counties. That is a side effect of how silver plans are priced in Florida, and it means a subsidized gold plan with a $3,000 deductible can be a better deal than people expect. The full detail is on my Hillsborough County, Pinellas County and Pasco County pages.

What Tampa residents actually pay

The sticker price is not what most people pay. CMS reports that the average Hillsborough enrollee paid $757 a month before tax credits and $108 after. In Pinellas, the averages were $820 before and $173 after. If your household income is under 400 percent of poverty, $63,840 for one person or $132,000 for a family of four for 2027 coverage, your price will likely look more like the second number. Above that line you pay the full price in the table. The subsidy calculator will tell you which side you are on in about two minutes.

Your price follows where you live, not where you work

Marketplace prices are set by the county you live in. Plenty of people work in Tampa but live in a neighboring county, and the numbers shift once you cross the line. For a 40 year old in 2026, the cheapest bronze plan cost $483.36 a month in Pasco, $509.47 in Polk and $520.64 in Manatee, and the benchmark silver plan ran $660.28, $660.96 and $705.22. Pinellas residents actually had slightly lower full prices than Hillsborough. If you are about to move across the bay or up to Wesley Chapel, a move to a new county is also a qualifying life event that can let you change plans mid year.

Networks and hospitals in Tampa Bay

Most Tampa marketplace plans are HMOs, 130 of the 173 in Hillsborough. The 14 PPO plans in each county all come from a single insurer, which is true across Florida's marketplace. That matters here because Tampa Bay has several large hospital systems, and plans do not all include the same ones.

The major names you will see in networks include Tampa General Hospital, the BayCare system with St. Joseph's in Tampa and Morton Plant in Clearwater, AdventHealth, HCA Florida hospitals, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Johns Hopkins All Children's in St. Petersburg. Which of these a plan includes can change year to year, and a plan can include a hospital but not every doctor who practices there. Before you choose, run through how to check if your doctor is in network.

2027 in Tampa: what to watch

• November 1, 2026Open enrollment opens for 2027 coverage
• December 15, 2026Last day to pick a plan that starts January 1, 2027
• January 15, 2027Open enrollment closes on HealthCare.gov

Neither Hillsborough nor Pinellas had plans from the carrier that is leaving Florida's marketplace for 2027, so most Tampa enrollees will not get an exit letter. Prices, networks and your subsidy still change every year, and because enhanced tax credits expired at the end of 2025, households just over the 400 percent line lose help entirely. Re shop every fall rather than letting your plan auto renew. If you are elsewhere in the state and did get a letter, see carriers leaving in 2027.

If money is very tight

Florida has not expanded Medicaid, so many adults without children cannot get it at any income, and marketplace credits start at 100 percent of poverty. Hillsborough County runs its own Health Care Plan for residents with income at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty guidelines who meet asset limits and are not eligible for any other coverage, including Medicaid and Medicare. Free, federally funded Navigators can also help you apply, and you can find one through LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov. For the lowest cost private options, see the cheapest health insurance in Florida.

Getting help in person

My office is on East Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, at 5701 E Hillsborough Ave, and I help people all over Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee. I am a licensed independent broker, Florida license G235543, so I can show you plans from every marketplace insurer in your ZIP code, and the premium is identical whether you enroll with me or on your own. If you are deciding whether a broker is right for you, my Tampa Bay broker page covers how I work. If you own a small business, see small business health insurance in Tampa.

My honest take

Tampa has more choice than most of Florida, which is good news and a trap. With 173 plans in one county, the difference between the right plan and an auto renewed one can be thousands of dollars a year, or a hospital you trust being out of network. Spend twenty minutes each fall comparing, or let me do it for you at no cost.

Common questions