Affordable Health Coverage for Individuals, Families & the Self-Employed

Independent contractors typically have several options beyond a traditional employer plan: ACA marketplace plans, Direct Primary Care (DPC) memberships paired with catastrophic coverage, and health sharing programs. Health sharing programs are not insurance, and their monthly cost often runs lower than an unsubsidized ACA plan, depending on age, health status, and location. Eligibility and sharing rules differ by program.

Yes. COBRA lets you keep your former employer’s exact plan, but you take on the full premium yourself, often around 102% of the group rate, which is usually far more than you were paying as an employee. Many people find that a private ACA plan, a CHOICE Arrangments-compatible option, or a DPC-plus-health-sharing combination provides comparable protection for meaningfully less. Since COBRA typically gives you 60 days to decide, there’s time to compare the numbers before committing. Learn more about COBRA alternatives.

It depends on the strategy. Some options we discuss, like ACA marketplace plans or coverage through a CHOICE Arrangement (Custom Health Option and Individual Care Expense Arrangement, formerly ICHRA), are traditional, regulated insurance. Others, like health sharing programs, are not insurance, they’re voluntary, community-based cost-sharing arrangements that are legal in all 50 states but don’t carry the same regulatory guarantees as insurance. We walk through exactly how each option works and what protections it does and doesn’t include, so you’re choosing with full information, not guessing.

For many families, yes. DPC memberships typically run $50 to $100 a month for adults and $20 to $75 for children, and they include unlimited primary care visits, telehealth, and basic labs with no copays. Families who use primary care regularly (well visits, sick visits, chronic condition management) often find the flat fee pays for itself in convenience alone. The one thing to know: DPC doesn’t cover emergencies, surgery, or specialist care, so it works best paired with a health sharing plan or HDHP for the larger, less frequent expenses.

Costs vary by age, location, and family size, but as a general framework: a DPC membership plus a compatible health sharing plan often runs $150 to $300 a month for a single adult, compared to $350 to $700 or more for an unsubsidized ACA Bronze or Silver plan. For a family of four, the gap is often even larger. The right way to know your actual number is to compare a real quote for your household against what you’re currently paying, since averages only tell part of the story.

Yes, as of January 1, 2026. A federal law change (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025) reclassified DPC membership fees as qualified medical expenses, so you can now use pre-tax HSA dollars to pay for DPC, up to $150 a month for individuals and $300 a month for families, as long as you’re also enrolled in a qualifying HDHP. [2] This is a meaningful change: previously, enrolling in DPC could disqualify you from HSA contributions altogether.

This is general education, not tax advice. A tax professional can confirm how this applies to your specific situation.

This is one of the most important things to evaluate before choosing a strategy. ACA marketplace plans are required to cover pre-existing conditions with no waiting period. Health sharing programs are different: waiting periods for pre-existing conditions vary significantly by program, and some conditions may never be eligible for sharing. If you have an ongoing condition that requires regular specialist care or expensive medication, we’ll walk through exactly how each option treats it before you make a decision, this isn’t something to guess on.

It depends on what you’re enrolling in. ACA marketplace plans generally require either Open Enrollment (typically November through January) or a qualifying life event, like losing a job, moving, or a change in household, to trigger a Special Enrollment Period. Health sharing programs and DPC memberships don’t work on that same calendar; you can typically join either one at any time of year, which is one reason they’re a common choice for people navigating a transition outside the standard enrollment window.