Insurance decisions, with the numbers.
Work out what a plan could cost, compare a COBRA alternative, or check your next enrollment step. Start with a free 2026 estimate. No email is needed for the estimate.
Estimates use 2026 plan data, not 2027 prices. Verify upcoming coverage with your marketplace.
Reported plan data and simplified calculations are different things. See the sources, assumptions and a worked example.
Health insurance
Real 2026 marketplace rates, your subsidy with no email, and a straight answer when not to buy.
Car insurance
How much liability you really need, and when collision & comprehensive stop paying off.
Renters insurance
Cheap coverage most renters size by guessing. Add up your stuff and get it right.
Homeowners insurance
Insure the rebuild cost, not the market price, and find out if you are underinsured.
Life insurance
How much term life your family actually needs, and why term usually beats whole life.
What this is
The Insurance Guide is a free, independent resource for understanding 2026 health insurance in the United States. We are not a broker and we do not sell plans, which frees us to publish real CMS-filed marketplace rates, show your estimated subsidy with no email required, and say the unprofitable thing when it is true: sometimes a marketplace plan is the wrong buy. Everything here runs on official data (the CMS Marketplace public use files, the IRS premium-tax-credit rules, and the HHS poverty guidelines), and every page tells you where its numbers come from.
Start with your situation
The rules are federal, but the useful answer is local: which marketplace you use, what a Silver plan costs at your age, and whether Medicaid is on the table all depend on your state. These two situations cover most people who land here.
Lost your job
Losing job coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window. You do not have to wait for open enrollment. A marketplace plan with a subsidy often costs less than COBRA, and we show the math for your state before you decide.
Pick your state →Self-employed
With no employer plan, the marketplace is usually your main option, and the self-employed premium deduction plus MAGI-based subsidies can cut the real cost sharply. We show what plans actually cost in your state, at your income.
Pick your state →Health insurance tools
Ten free calculators and two short self-assessments for health coverage, all built on the same official 2026 data and all free to use. No account, and no email required to see the numbers. Car, renters, home, and life each have their own calculator below.
Estimate & compare costs
Subsidy estimator
Your premium tax credit and real monthly plan prices by tier. No email to see numbers.
Estimated annual cost of care
Compare estimated premiums plus care costs under simplified cost-sharing assumptions.
Compare plans
Up to three plans side by side (premium, deductible, out-of-pocket max) with a share link.
Make the call
COBRA vs marketplace
Which costs less for the rest of 2026, and when keeping COBRA is the right call.
Metal tier recommender
Bronze, Silver, or Gold: a recommendation with the reasoning and the real numbers.
Am I overpaying?
How your premium compares to the cheapest equivalent plan after subsidy.
Check the details
SEP deadline checker
Whether your special-enrollment window is open, the exact deadline, and what to bring.
FPL calculator
Your income as a percent of the poverty level, and the lines that decide help.
HSA & FSA savings
The tax you keep by contributing pre-tax to an HSA or health FSA.
Coverage gap finder
A checklist of what to verify on a plan: network, drugs, dental, vision.
Test yourself
Insurance IQ quiz
Ten questions on how coverage really works, scored with sourced explanations.
Coverage health score
A transparent 0–100 score of your coverage, with what helps and hurts it.
Calculators for your other coverage
Health isn’t the only policy worth getting right. Each of these free, open-source calculators sizes a different line of coverage to what you’d actually lose. No email, no account. Every one links back to a plain-English guide on that coverage.
Size your liability limits to your assets, then use the 10% rule to decide whether collision & comprehensive still pay off.
Car insurance guide →Renters Coverage Calculator
RentersAdd up your belongings for the right personal-property limit, size your liability, and see your loss-of-use cushion.
Renters insurance guide →Estimate your dwelling (Coverage A) rebuild cost from square footage and build quality, then see the Coverage B/C/D limits that stack on top of it.
Homeowners insurance guide →Run the DIME method (debt, income replacement, mortgage, and education), subtract what you already have, and get the term coverage number to shop for.
Life insurance guide →
What the subsidy estimator tells you
Enter your ZIP code, the ages in your household, and your expected 2026 income. You get an instant estimate of your premium tax credit and monthly price ranges by metal tier, built from actual CMS-filed 2026 rates for plans sold in your county, not national averages or last year’s numbers. It also flags the cases that change the answer: income below your state’s Medicaid line, or above the 400% subsidy cutoff, which, under current law as of June 2026, returned after the enhanced pandemic-era credits expired at the end of 2025 (Congress could still restore them). The subsidy estimate and tier ranges are free with no signup. An optional request for the full plan-by-plan table can include consent to agent contact; read the terms before submitting.
Open the calculatorLearn the terms
The words on a health plan decide what you actually pay, and most of them are easy to mix up. The glossary defines the 30 that matter most in plain English, and the comparisons settle the choices people get stuck on, each one short, sourced, and linked to a calculator when a number helps more than a paragraph.
The full glossary and comparisons →Free guides and worksheets
Printable guides for the decisions that don’t fit on a calculator screen. Each is free of charge. Unlocking a download can require contact details and consent to agent calls, texts, or emails. Read the consent terms before submitting; calculator estimates remain available without providing contact details.
2026 subsidy income chart
The income lines by household size that decide Medicaid, cost-sharing, and the subsidy cliff.
COBRA decision worksheet
The COBRA-vs-marketplace choice reduced to three numbers and an honest hour.
Employer vs. marketplace grid
The two paths side by side, including the affordability rule that decides subsidy eligibility.
Self-employed playbook
Estimating income that fluctuates, the §162(l) deduction, HSA pairing, and a quarterly calendar.
New parent checklist
The 60-day window a birth opens, and the rule that lets coverage reach back to the event.
Denied-claim appeal kit
The two appeal stages federal law guarantees, the deadlines, and a fill-in letter.
How we’re different
Most insurance sites exist to sell you a policy, so every page ends in “get a quote.” We are not licensed agents and we do not sell plans, which frees us to say the unprofitable thing: sometimes the right move is not buying a marketplace plan at all. We publish real filed rates rather than averages, name the trade-offs in plain words, and tell you when to walk away:
- If you are mid-treatment and your doctors are in your old plan’s network, keeping COBRA is often the better buy.
- If your income is under your state’s Medicaid line, Medicaid covers you for less than any marketplace plan.
- If you earn above the subsidy line, you pay full price, and we say so instead of burying it.
Data: CMS Marketplace public use files · IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-25 · HHS poverty guidelines · KFF benchmarks
How we make money
The calculators and estimates are free to use without contact details. We do not sell insurance policies or run display ads. Our referral model can involve selling or sharing submitted contact details and calculator inputs with licensed agents or agencies, with your consent. Requests for a downloadable guide or a full plan-by-plan table can include that consent, including consent to follow-up calls, texts, or emails. No contact details collected through this site are sold or shared until a named partner is listed on our Partners page. Read the terms before submitting. See our Privacy Policy, partner information, and Do Not Sell or Share page for details. You do not need to request agent contact to use an estimate.
Popular state guides
Each guide covers the enrollment deadline, what plans really cost there in 2026, an honest COBRA comparison where it applies, and a subsidy estimate worked through for that state.
Common questions
- Do I have to give my email to see prices?
- No. The subsidy estimate and plan-tier price ranges are free and show instantly, without contact details. Optional requests for a downloadable guide or full plan-by-plan table can include consent to agent contact. Review the consent terms before submitting.
- Where do the numbers come from?
- Real 2026 data: the CMS Marketplace public use files for filed plan rates and benefits, the IRS premium-tax-credit formula (Rev. Proc. 2025-25), and HHS poverty guidelines. For the couple of state exchanges still missing from the public files (Colorado and Maryland) we use a state-average benchmark and say so.
- Do you sell insurance, or sell my information?
- We are not a licensed broker and we do not sell insurance plans. Calculators and estimates do not require contact details. If you choose an optional agent referral, your submitted contact details and calculator inputs may be sold or shared with your consent. No contact details collected through this site are sold or shared until a named partner is listed on our Partners page. Read the Privacy Policy and the consent terms before submitting.
- When is open enrollment for 2026 coverage?
- On the federal marketplace it runs from November 1 into mid-January; state-run exchanges can differ. Outside that window you need a qualifying life event (losing coverage, a move, marriage, or a new baby) to enroll.
- I just lost my job. Can I get coverage now?
- Yes. Losing job-based coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment window, and you can apply up to 60 days before a known end date. A subsidized marketplace plan often costs less than COBRA. The COBRA-vs-marketplace tool shows the math for your state.
- How accurate are the estimates?
- They use actual filed rates for plans sold in your county, so they are close, but they are estimates, not quotes. Your final premium and subsidy are set when you apply through your marketplace and reconcile income on your tax return.
- Does this site cover more than health insurance?
- Yes. Alongside our health-insurance tools we have independent, jargon-free guides to car, renters, homeowners, and life insurance, each with its own free calculator to size your coverage. Pick a line from the menu at the top or the cards on this page.
- How much car, renters, home, or life insurance do I actually need?
- Each line has a simple method and a free calculator. Car insurance: size liability to your net worth and use the 10% rule on collision and comprehensive. Renters and home: insure your belongings at replacement cost and, for a home, insure the rebuild cost rather than the market price. Life: use the DIME method (Debt, Income, Mortgage, Education) to set a term amount. Every guide links straight to the calculator that runs the numbers.
- Are the car, renters, home, and life calculators free too?
- Yes. The calculators are free and do not require an email to use. They help you decide what coverage to consider. Optional agent-contact requests are separate from using the calculators and can involve consent-based sharing or sale of submitted information.
- Do you sell auto, renters, home, or life insurance?
- We do not sell insurance policies on any line. The guides and calculators are educational, and you can take their estimates to an insurer or marketplace of your choice. Optional agent referrals may involve selling or sharing submitted information with your consent, as described in the Privacy Policy.
See your real numbers
Enter your ZIP, ages, and income: the subsidy estimate and plan prices show instantly, no email required.
Estimate my premium & subsidy →